


You Don't Know What They Do To Kids Like Me

by Rubicksmaster



Series: Gangstuck [4]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gangs, Gen, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2018-11-18 05:15:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 22
Words: 27,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11284434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rubicksmaster/pseuds/Rubicksmaster
Summary: Cronus is barely hanging on. Eridan barely talks to him, and their father is pushing them further into the 'family business.' Feferi is the only one he's close to, but their positions are dangerously close to being compromised.





	1. Prologue

Cronus opened up his laptop and rubbed his eyes, wincing as the too-bright screen shone on him. He opened up a saved document full of pages of text. Flexing his fingers, he began to type at the very bottom.

'Ethel Ryans. Elderly woman, known for charity work. No living family. Beaten to death with a club by one of the purpleblood. I stood and watched.

James Herald. Young man. Handsome. Indifferent to most things. Cut into pieces by one of the tealbloods, the overexcited bastard, and disposed of in a dumpster. His blood splattered on me as I watched.

Zoe Krushner. Middle aged mother of three, with a fourth on the way. One of the other seadwellers pushed me into her, and she fell down a flight of stairs. There is no longer a fourth on the way.

Jeriah Lilelt. Redblood, vehement liberal. Tossed back and forth, naked, between a gang of bluebloods. I ran away to throw up. Nothing else.'

He continued typing until his fingers were sore. Each and every victim stood out in his head. Each and every one of them, dead or alive, weighed on his conscience. He leaned over the trash can and dry-heaved, knowing full well nothing would come up.

He rest his head on his arms and sobbed. Downstairs, a door slammed shut. His father, judging from the temperature drop in the house. He wiped away his tears and locked the door. He had been the perfect son. Not one missed mark. It was Eridan who would face Dualscar’s wrath. It was all over the Protectors of Alternia. An Ampora had been beaten by a lowblood he was supposed to kill. He’d pay dearly for the embarrassment to their ‘great name.’ 

Cronus cried harder.


	2. Chapter 1: Night Time

It was hours after the screaming match that had taken place between Eridan and Dualscar. Well, that’s how it would’ve been a few years ago, when Eridan was younger and more willing to fight. Now it was just Dualscar screaming and Eridan giving tired, empty responses. He had given up, it seemed. 

Everyone was asleep. Tomorrow was a promised break day. In PA, most of the lower ranking highbloods did the grunt work every day of the week. Cronus and Eridan both worked four days a week at a maximum at this point, as they were no longer new members. 

Cronus glanced to the window across the road. The light was off, but he could make out Feferi, staring up at the sky. He wondered whether or not he should check on her, but went against it. He knew exactly how she felt, because it was exactly how he felt. Tired. Defeated. Filthy. Guilty. 

Her Imperial Condescension had already put in place multiple new laws restricting humans from basic laws. Minimum wage had been lowered for them (they needed less), public schools were now supposed to segregate classes (trolls were more advanced and needed more rigorous lessons), and hate crimes no longer existed against humans in the eyes of the law. Kanaya, Nepeta, Terezi, and Vriska all took turns walking beside their human friends, being in the perfect position of having parents who valued equality and high enough blood to keep them from getting assaulted. 

With both the Striders back, they’re small team should’ve been working at full force. Everyone was united, even Damara was back with her sister. And yet, they felt so apart. Feferi, Gamzee, and Kurloz were all involved with the PA, and Darkleer had spoken to the leaders of letting his own sons join. They were their own faction, a group looked at with scorn from their friends, no matter how much they denied it. Rufioh and Tavros were appearing less and less, still raw with emotion and hatred after the loss of their father.

They were falling apart, and Karkat could only do so much to keep them together. The only good news was winter break. All their friends who went to foreign universities were back home and ready to fight. 

The Midnight Crew was also becoming more and more involved, he remembered. Aradia and Damara were living with Diamonds Droog, and Tavros and Rufioh were living with Hearts Boxcars. They, along with Spades and Clubs Deuce, were all pitching in in their own ways. By offering full protection and help planning, they were probably the only reason they were still alive.

And, of course, Mr. Captor, who was hacking onto the Condesce’s personal accounts and exposing as many emails as he could. 

His phone buzzed next to him. His train of thought was making him drowsy, and he hadn’t realized how close he was to sleep until the vibration jerked him wide awake. It was Feferi, asking him to meet her at the McDonald’s nearby. Now that she was making her proud, her mother was extremely lenient, now assured that she wouldn’t have another Meenah on her hands. 

Cronus wasn’t that lucky, but he had an ace up his sleeve. He grabbed his jacket and pocketed his phone and a pack of cigarettes before going to Dualscar’s room. He lightly knocked on the door and said, “Hey, Pops, I’m going out with Feferi.”

“Don’t stay out too late,” he replied. Despite all the reservations and (reasonable) suspicions he had about Feferi, he loved her. She was everything a seadweller princess should be, even if she wasn’t nearly as violent as she should be.

Before he left, he almost stopped to check if Eridan was okay. Almost.

Feferi was already sitting at one of the tables with a tray full of far too many french fries. “Hey,” he said, not missing the way the human cashier flinched. 

Feferi looked up and waved. “‘Bout time. I started stress eating without you.”

“What’s stressing you out?”

“What isn’t stressing me out?” she replied, shoving a fistful of fries into her mouth. Cronus gave her a shy smile and took a few from the tray. Despite her admittance that she had no romantic interest in him, he couldn’t help himself. She was beautiful, even when devouring food at a terrifying rate. “How’s Eridan?”

“Still not talking to me. He’s been a little better, now that he’s not working as much. Getting used to it, I think.”

“That’s not a good thing,” Feferi said, pursing her lips together. 

“You don’t get it. You’ve killed one person. I’ve lost track of how many I’ve killed, and I think Eridan has, too.” She didn’t reply. “I’m not mad at you, not even upset. Just think about the grunts doing our work. Gamzee and Kurloz put up with so much shit. Good luck to the Zahhaks when those poor bastards get involved.”

Feferi shook her head. “They aren’t even low ranking highbloods.”

“Do some reading on the caste system. They were servants to those with higher blood than their own, and only had authority over lowbloods.” As soon as he turned thirteen, Dualscar had dumped ancient history book upon him, with vivid imagery of how his blood level treated others. ‘Preparation,’ he said.  
“We need to end this, now,” Feferi whispered. 

Cronus gave a slight nod. “I’m sick of this too.”

“Have you heard of any major new assignments?”

“Not yet. All of the focus has been on legal crap now th stop us. It’ll be a rude awakening for the PA that they aren’t untouchable.”

“Yeah, but we know how powerful the PA are. The Midnight Crew isn’t even comparable to them. We can’t sacrifice dozens of carapaces to maybe kill a few evil trolls.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m just so frustrated!”

“Aren’t we all.” Cronus looked down at the tray. “Hey, do you want actual food?” Feferi shook her head. “Do you want ice cream?” Slowly, almost guiltily, she nodded. Cronus handed her a few dollars and said, “Go crazy. I need to check some things.” When Feferi went back up to the cashier (who looked like she was repressing a panic attack), Cronus checked his phone. There were a few messages from Mituna, asking him why he never came online to play video games with him anymore, and a text from Kankri reminding him to get some sleep.

“Thanks, Cronus,” Feferi said, holding a cone as she sat down. 

“No problem,” he replied, slipping his phone into his pocket. “I think I’m gonna go out for a smoke.”

“Remember when you used to buy those candy cigarettes and ‘smoke’ them in school? The stories Eridan told me about your high school days.”

“Yeah, those were easier times. Besides, it was Damara who lit one of them on fire.”

“I thought she lit the school on fire?”

“Yeah, she did that too. She lit a lot of things on fire.” Damara was a unique case. She was a genius, easily one of the smartest girls in the world. She got into his private school on a scholarship, and was promptly kicked out after multiple charges of arson, nudity, public indecency (read: having sex with someone in the principal’s office), and violence. 

“Thank god Aradia is nothing like her.”

“You’d be surprised. Mituna babysat her, before his accident, and she was a bundle of pure evil.”

“All grubs are.” Cronus shrugged. “Well, except for me.”

‘Now that’s definitely bullshit, because I babysat you, and I still have the scars to prove it.” She started to laugh. “Oh yeah, ha ha, very funny when you weren’t the one babysitting a spawn of Satan who lusted for blood.” Feferi snorted, and the few patrons looked over at them.

When she calmed down, Feferi said. “We should get back home.”

“Yeah. Tomorrow I have off. Let’s talk to Vriska about our next move.”

“What about Karkat?”

“I think Vriska might have a natural knack for survival. Karkat’s too headstrong to think these through, but Vriska takes her time and thinks about every consequence when you make her. Plus, it’s been awhile since I’ve seen Aranea and Meenah.”

“Alright. I haven’t seen my sister in awhile, either.”

Cronus drove her home. When he got back to his house, he stopped outside of Eridan’s room. He heard his brother crying.

He went to bed, unsure and feeling nauseous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm back! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you so much for reading and leaving kudos, it means so much to me. Just as an update, I don't know yet how many chapters this will be, but I'll update this as soon as I know. Thanks once again. Until next time~


	3. Chapter 2: The Spider's Web

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Thanks for coming by and reading, thank you for leaving kudos, and I hope you enjoyed! Until next time~

His alarm went off after what felt like five minutes of sleep. He and Feferi had agreed to meet Vriska at her house at nine sharp, an hour after Dualscar and the Condesce left for work. Cronus dragged himself out of bed and slipped into some fresher smelling clothes. He looked in his mirror as he patted his hair, making sure it stayed perfect. 

“Hey, Eridan, you up yet, bud?” Cronus called from his room.

“Yeah,” his brother replied from downstairs. The goddamn earlybird was probably doing his homework after making his breakfast that he made at the break of dawn every morning to appeal to their father. It never worked, not since he was a grub.

“I’m going out with Fef, we’re meeting up with Vriska and some of your friends. Wanna tag along?” Cronus walked downstairs, rubbing his eyes.

“It won’t be that easy for you to trick me into joining your little club.”

“It’s not a club.” His voice dropped to a whisper as he continued, “We’re trying to put a stop to all the terrible shit that’s been happening, and we both know you need to help us out.”

“You don’t know what I need,” Eridan hissed.

Cronus grimaced and shoved his hands into his pockets. “They’re worried about you. About what PA is doing to you.” Eridan turned away and didn’t reply, as though he could make Cronus disappear just by ignoring him. His fins were slightly ruffled, flushed bright violet at the very tips. Cronus shrugged and muttered about how it was his loss before heading out.

It was raining outside. Feferi rushed to his car as soon as he got outside his house. “You’re a seadweller by blood, Fef, shouldn’t you love the water?”

“Not when I have stuff that can get wet,” she replied. 

“Information about the PA?”

“Sadly, no. Vriska and I are partners on a history project, and I figured I could drop this off while we were there. I am still in high school, you know.”

“Ah, to be young.”

Feferi nudged him. “Right, because you’re so old!” Cronus smiled and nudged her back before he started his car. These days, Vriska lived relatively close to them depending on where Mindfang was. Currently, she was staying on the outskirts of the city, playing the field. If the Condesce was not the fucking president, the Serkets would probably have long left the city. Now there was nowhere to go. 

After an hour of driving, Cronus pulled over near the river, where a large party boat was docked. They stepped on board and tried to walk in, but the door was locked. Feferi glanced over at him, and Cronus understood. The Serket house had always been open for their friends, who often came from abusive homes.

He knocked, and after a few minutes, knocked again. Then Aranea, still gorgeous in her own, bookish way, opened the door. “Oh, hey guys. What’s up?”

“We need to talk to Vriska,” Feferi said, gesturing to her papers. Aranea let her in, and nodded at Cronus. 

“So, what do you actually need?” she asked after Feferi ran off to find Vriska.

“We’re stagnant,” Cronus replied. “The last time we did anything important was when we assassinated someone.”

“Then the Condesce was able to take over,” Aranea replied.

“But we did something! If we stay complacent, we might as well stop pretending we’re a gang. Vriska’s the best when it comes to making plans, and we need something to do.” 

Aranea stared at him before grinning. “Should I get Terezi over here?”

“Might as well,” Cronus said, grinning back. Years ago, they had had a fling that lasted for about a month. Maybe he was desperate, but he had always found her endearing, even after they had broken up. He’d never pursue that again, though. Meenah would have gutted him in moments, and even Aranea was a terrible enemy to have.

Feferi came back with Vriska in tow. They sat at the bar, and Cronus joined them. Aranea left, presumably to call Terezi. “Alright, what’s the deal?” Vriska asked. 

“Feferi and I are within the highest ranks of the PA. We have constant access to files and members. We can sabotage them, we just need a plan.”

“What do you propose?”

“Let’s take out The Grand Highblood,” Feferi said. Cronus and Vriska both stared at her. “What? He’s the biggest threat.”

“Yeah, there’s a reason for that. He could kill us with the wave of his hand. Shit, you don’t want to pick off a lower ranking official first, just to fuck with them?”

“I wouldn’t mind killing a few of those thugs,” Cronus sighed. 

“How about we start off with Cronus’s idea,” Vriska said. “At least get used to what you’re doing first. Besides, the common thugs in PA do a lot of the legwork. We’ll be picking off their muscle.”

“Fine. Should I get a list of some trolls?” Feferi asked.

“That’d be perfect. We can share them to everyone else, so they know who to look out for and who they can be a little rough with.” The rest of the afternoon was spent with the three of them, and later, Terezi, hunched over a paper, sketching plans and alibis that would work best. The papers were passed around, everyone adding something or crossing something out, until every paper was covered in red ink.

“This could work,” Aranea said, looking everything over. “I’ll send it to everyone.” 

“This is just like the old LARPing days,” Terezi said, aiming a toothy grin at Vriska.

“It’s not the same without Equius getting his sweat everywhere.” Feferi faked a gag. “Yeah, let’s just say you guys missed a lot of gross stuff by refusing to LARP with us.”

“You guys wouldn’t let Eridan join, and I felt too bad to abandon him!” Feferi said.

“Oh. Yeah. Forgot about that,” Vriska replied. 

“Focus on this, guys,” Aranea said, directing their attention back to the papers. “Who will be available to help?”

“I’m in,” Cronus said. “We’d only need four more people, right? I bet Dirk would be in, too.”

“Maybe Dave, while we’re at it,” Vriska said. “He might have some pent up rage.”

“Not him,” Terezi replied. “It was rough for him, being gone so long. It’s only been a few weeks.”

“Just Dirk and Cronus for now, then,” Aranea said, writing their names down. The front door opened, then slammed shut, and they all fell silent. “Mom?” Aranea asked tentatively.

“That’s a new kink,” Meenah said, walking in. “Whatcha guys doin’, planning another murder?” She looked at the papers, giving a half-hug to Feferi as she read them. “Shit, you are. I’m in?”

“Are you sure that’s safe? With who your mother is?” Aranea asked.

“Actually, if Meenah did anything and got caught, Mom would cover it up,” Feferi said. “She’d deal with it internally, but her only focus would be Meenah.”

“Yeah. And I never get caught,” Meenah said, chewing her gum.

Feferi rolled her eyes. “Like the bag of weed in your sock drawer, or the credit card you stole from her, or the human she found you fooling around with.”

“Weren’t you just on my side?”

“Whatever,” Cronus interjected. “She’ll be fine. She’s a tough cookie.”

“Hell yeah I am.”

“Fine.” Aranea glared at Meenah, but begrudgingly took her name down. “That leaves two more people. I’ll send this to Karkat and ask if he has any volunteers.”


	4. Chapter 3: The Family Tradition

Kankri called Cronus the next day. “Should I be concerned that you and a few others are planning multiple murders?”

Cronus smiled. “It’s us or them, Kan.”

“It’ll never be you, though.”

“Don’t sound so bitter,” Cronus said, unable to suppress a feeling of rage. “If I could be anyone else, I would be. It’s not my fault who my dad is. It’s not my fault I’m an Ampora.”

“I know. I’m sorry, that was uncalled for. I just think you don’t realize the position of power you’re in. There’s only four people above you in the world right now. Well, three, actually. I doubt the Condesce considers Meenah much of anything right now.”

“What are you saying?”

“That you don’t have to act like some sort of thug. Aren’t there multiple families involved? There’s certain to be some rebellious kids who’d join you in a heartbeat for some sort of coup d'etat.”

Cronus frowned and set the phone down. He could’ve sworn he just heard something? Was it Eridan, or, worse, Dualscar? Best to err on the side of caution. He picked it back up to his ear. “I doubt it. Everyone’s more than happy. Anyway, I gotta go. See you later, Horuss.”

“Is it Dualscar?” Kankri asked, but Cronus hung up before he could say anymore. 

A coup d’etat? He had to be kidding. What he was doing right now with his friends was dangerous. Going directly underneath the PA was straight suicide. Whatever. Kankri was idealistic, a bit too much of a dreamer. He was grounded, and knew better than to do something so insane.

Someone knocked on his door. “C’mon in.”

Eridan opened the door and poked his head through. “Hey, any clue where Dad is?”

“Probably with PA.” Dualscar had a wealthy inheritance and spent his younger years as a poacher, which left him the rest of his life to live without having to work. 

“He told me he’d only go today if there was an emergency.” Eridan came in and shut the door behind him. “What do you think happened?”

“Only one way to know.” Cronus pulled up the news site on his phone. “Nothing yet. Should we check in with someone?”

“Yeah. My friend Trevin is working today.” He dialed the number and they both waited. “Hey! Is my Dad there?” 

“Put it on speaker.”

He did, and a low, gravelly voice came through. “Yeah, but he looks stressed. He’s with Her Imperial Condescension now.”

“Should we come in?”

There was a pause before Trevin replied, “Yeah, I asked Executor Darkleer. Get here as fast as you can.”

“Okay, thanks.” Eridan put his phone away. “I’m done with this bullshit.”

“I know. Me too.” Cronus pulled on his shoes. “Daddy’s calling, though, so we best get going. What do you think happened?”

They walked outside to Cronus’s car. “I don’t know. Maybe a federal judge blocked an especially xenophobic law and they’re all throwing a temper tantrum.”

“Sounds about right.” It was a silent ride to the PA headquarters. They could banter the same as they always had, but it always fell into an uncomfortable silence. So much had happened between them, so much that nobody had seen. Nobody noticed when Dualscar decided Cronus, the obedient son who pledged loyalty to the PA, was his favorite. Emotional abuse was the easiest to ignore, and Eridan was looked over until he gave in and joined too.

He was a smart kid. A bit oblivious, but more intelligent than Cronus, that’s for sure. Regardless, it would be reasonable for him to resent Cronus for being the perfect child. Rebel on the outside, follower within. 

“Hey, Eridan?”

“What?”

“Why were you so obsessed with the caste system as a kid?”

“I don’t really know anymore. It was fascinating, historically. But I think it made me feel important. Nobody really liked me when I was younger. When I was worshipping the caste system, I could chalk it up to lowbloods being jealous of my status. Of course, that shit didn’t matter here. It just felt better than admitting I was kind of annoying.”

Cronus didn’t know how to reply. He pulled into a parking spot and turned the engine off. “Why were you obsessed with human culture?”

Cronus smiled. “It pissed Dad off, but I wouldn’t get in trouble for it, because I was just blending in. Nobody would beat up the normal looking kid, but if I was wearing traditional seadweller attire? Forget about it, I would’ve been demolished.”

They got out and entered the PA meeting. Darkleer was waiting near the door for them. “Misters Ampora,” he greeted with a bow. “Your father has requested your presence in the meeting room.” He led them to a door and let them inside with another bow. The Condesce, Dualscar, and Feferi were inside with a number of seadwellers and the Makara boys.

“What took you so long?” Dualscar asked.

“We came as soon as we heard. What happened?” Cronus asked, taking one of the empty seats. Eridan sat beside him.

“There has been an assassination attempt on the Grand Highblood,” one of the seadwellers answered.

Cronus’s jaw dropped, and he looked to Kurloz and Gamzee, who didn’t look fazed. “Is he in the hospital?” Eridan asked. They were both scared shitless of the Grand Highblood (who wasn’t), but Eridan always admired him. 

 

“He was uninjured, and is currently detained for the rampage that ensued afterwards,” Dualscar replied.

Kurloz grinned, and Gamzee said, “Yup! That’s Dad for you. Motherfucking badass.”

Dualscar glanced at Gamzee with a frown, but said to the Condesce, “We need to decide how to go about this. The GHB was not an official member of your office because of his controversial past, but it’s very public that your pasts are heavily entwined. What do you suggest we do?”

“It’s clear the humans and more liberal trolls need to be shown what happens to traitors,” the Condesce replied. “If he hadn’t killed the culprit, we could’ve done something. From now on, any violent human criminals will be executed.”

“And if it’s a rebellious troll?” one of the seadwellers asked.

“Same punishment, but only if they’re a known opponent of my government,” she replied. Feferi caught Cronus’s eye, and they stared at each other. They’d have to be careful picking off some of the lower thugs. 

“For the next month, everyone of importance will have security detail. Assign some of the grunts to me, my daughter, Gamzee and Kurloz, every seadweller, and anyone of Darkleer’s blood and higher,” Dualscar said.

“What about the Grand Highblood?” Eridan asked.

“If anyone can kill him, there’s nothing anyone can do to stop him,” Dualscar replied, fear flashing in his eyes. It was rare for him to show any emotion other than aloofness, but the GHB was the only exception. Not much of anything was taller than Dualscar, but the GHB towered three feet above him, and was twice as wide, with ten times the bloodlust. 

“Nobody leave the hideout until a bodyguard is assigned to you. Meeting adjourned,” the Condesce said. Everyone stood and bowed, and they began to leave in order of caste, highest to lowest. Darkleer was gone, probably running through who would watch who, meaning Cronus was stuck there.

Dualscar would gloat to anyone about anything, so he found someone to talk to quickly. Eridan had a group of friends that he found. Cronus was alone until Feferi found him. “Hey,” she said.

“Hey there. Are you worried?”

“A little,” she admitted. “I’ve got a target on my back because of my mom.” She leaned closer to him and whispered, “I might be attacked by someone I’m fighting for.”

He gave her a sad smile and nodded. “Everyone’s got your back, you know that.”

“Yeah. And Meenah would kill anyone who tried to touch me.”

Cronus laughed, because it was true. “Hey, don’t you have friends here you could hang out with?”

“Not really,” she replied. “Most of these guys scare me. The trolls with Eridan are nice, though.”

“That’s good, at least. I wouldn’t want him abandoning his friends for, well, you know,” Cronus said, stopping himself before he could screw himself over.

A shadow fell over them as Dualscar approached them. “Miss Peixes,” he said with a flourish. She gave him a forced smile. “I hope Cronus isn’t bothering you.”

“No, he’s being fine!” Feferi replied. 

“Good.” He turned to Cronus. “Find Eridan. Our guards have been assigned, and I’d like to go home and enjoy my dad off.”

Cronus and Feferi watched Dualscar as he stalked off, and Cronus muttered, “I’m surprised you don’t want to stay and kill something.” Cronus bid farewell to Feferi and pulled Eridan away from his friends. When they left, a black car followed them home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thanks for reading! I hope you all enjoyed, and I'll update within the next two days or so. Until next time~


	5. Chapter 4: The Three Stooges

The three bodyguards were all indigo bloods. Dualscar got the biggest, a middle aged troll who looked like a wall made of muscle. His hair was cut short, really showing the massive length of his twisting horns. He didn’t say anything other than his name, “Herlod Makirn,” and stood outside the front door per Dualscar’s orders. Cronus got a short woman named Zeriah Neront, probably mixed with a greenblood, who made it expressly clear that if he flirted she would shirk her duties and slaughter him, similar to most of the women he knew.

Eridan got Trevin who, despite his deep voice, was short and thin, with clean-cut hair and a childlike face. Cronus would’ve made fun of it had it not been for Gamzee, resident beanpole and convicted murderer. 

Trevin gave him a bad feeling. It was hardly a comfort that Eridan was friends with him, as Eridan had never been the best judge of people. Trevin had no family in the PA, Cronus had gone through the records. He was in it by his choice. 

Cronus tried to see Feferi more often just to get out of the house. Zeriah followed him everywhere he went, not even trying to hide. Feferi’s guard was also an indigo blood who rivalled Herlod in size who watched her from a distance at all times. “Isn’t he worried someone will hurt you?”

“Mom said he’s the best sniper we have,” she replied.

“Of course.”

Being unable to hang out with Feferi was a small inconvenience. The deadline for their plan was quickly approaching. Karkat had gotten Rufioh and, after an incident where Jake got beaten in an alley by two trolls, Jade to volunteer. Cronus paired himself with Dirk and Jade with Rufioh, trusting that Meenah’s natural viciousness would keep her safe. But he’d be useless if Zeriah was tailing him. How would she react to him killing a few thugs from PA, spilling precious highblood?

He had to lose her, somehow. He tried testing things out before the day, by going into crowded areas or sneaking out. Nothing worked. She was always right behind him. His best chance was by faking being asleep and hoping he could be quiet enough to keep from waking her up.

His father, as a big game hunter, had many prized weapons from his glory days. His main focus was what he claimed to be an Ampora heirloom, a rifle passed down for generations directly from Alternia. He wouldn’t notice if a smaller pistol went missing. Cronus took one and told Zeriah it would be for future PA duties. She didn’t question it.

He went to bed particularly early that night. He tried to breath evenly and look as dead to the world as possible. After an hour, he opened his eyes and saw Zeriah asleep on the chair across from him.Slowly, he got out from under his covers and slipped on his shoes. He had left the window open, which was nice due to the unusually warm night, to make his job easier. Keeping an eye on Zeriah, he climbed out of the window and lowered himself to the ground.

He had to stay there for a moment just to accept that that had went smoother than he thought. Then he went to find Meenah.

She was waiting outside her house or him. “What took you so long?” She asked, leaning on her trident.

“I had to escape my bodyguard.”

“Thank gog Mom hates me,” Meenah said. “Let’s go. We’re meeting up with Jade at the entrance gate.”

“Where’s Rufioh and Dirk?”

“Both of them are at the strip mall by Karkat’s house. Sollux has been keeping an eye on our targets. Yevhut and Frinti are in a 7/11 parking lot next to the mall, so we can take them down quick. Krilur is around Aradia’s apartment complex, I could go after her.”

“What about Jiquin?” Cronus asked. Jiquin was a seadweller, and definitely the biggest threat. If he escaped, he could run home to Mommy and get Cronus slaughtered. If he decided to fight them, they might not win. 

“Roxy’s keeping tabs on him. He’s at home, but she’ll tell us if he leave.” 

“Good.”

“What did these guys do?” Meenah asked. “You’ve had a scowl on your face this whole time. You kinda look like Dualscar, and it’s kinda freaking me out.” 

Cronus relaxed himself and got into Meenah’s car. “Sorry. They’ve done bad stuff.” Stuff he hadn’t been meant to seen. He didn’t have to be out in the streets, watching thugs ‘have fun’ with some humans that were in the wrong place at the wrong time. He felt nauseous thinking about it. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Meenah said, pulling out of her driveway. “You should quit PA. Join me, rebel.”

“I would if I could,” he replied. Meenah didn’t push, surprising him. Sometimes she wasn’t a bitch. Sometimes.

She stopped at the gate and picked up Jade, who was holding a hunting rifle. “The hell did you steal that from?” Meenah asked, staring at the gun. 

“It’s mine,” she replied. “I go hunting all the time.” 

Meenah shrugged and continued to drive. “Where should I drop you guys off?”

“At Jiquin’s home,” Cronus replied. “Take yourself to Aradia’s and take down Krilur. I’ll call when we’ll done. Tell Dirk and Ruhioh to take care of their targets.”

“We’re regrouping at Karkat’s,” Jade said. “How will we get there?”

“A taxi. At worst, we walk,” he replied.

Cronus’s heart pounded as watched the buildings pass. He would never get used to murder. It felt so foreign to him, so disgustingly wrong, so similar to what his father did for fun. Bile built up in his throat as Meenah slowed to a stop. Jiquin wasn’t especially rich, coming from a family that squandered their wealth years ago, but still had the status to look it. 

Cronus and Jade got out of the car, each holding their gun. As Meenah sped off, Cronus said, “Have you ever killed someone before?”

“No, but-”

“Stop right there,” Cronus interrupted. “I get it, you’re cousin’s hurt. I’m not going to let you kill because of it. I’m going to take on Jiquin. He’ll have a bodyguard that I want you to cripple. Aim for the legs, or the arms. Don’t kill.”

“It’s not easy to aim for the limbs,” Jade said.

“I’m willing to bet you’d be able to do it,” Cronus replied. Jade didn’t respond. “Only aim to kill if one of us is in trouble.”

“Got it,” she said.

“Go in that tree. I’ll lure him out. He’s the one who looks like he’s trying to pull off a troll-Tupac look.” Jade suppressed a giggle. “I know. I wish I was kidding.”

Jade climbed the tree and stood between two branches higher up, leaning on another for aim. She gave him a thumbs up and he rang the doorbell. Jiquin answered. “You better have a good reason for showing up this late. You nearly gave my mom a heart attack.”

“Sorry. I know everyone’s been jumpy after the assassination attempt,” Cronus said, giving Jiquin a grin. “I just had to check with you about something.”

“Come on in,” Jiquin said, moving out of the entranceway. 

“It’ll be quick,” Cronus said. “Come on outside.”

“I don’t know, my mom said-”

“Jiquin,” Cronus interjected. “It’ll be a minute. You can trust me.” Cronus did his best to give him a reassuring smile. Slowly, Jiquin stepped outside.

“What, no bodyguard?” Jiquin asked.

“She’s somewhere back there, trying to stay hidden,” Cronus lied. “What about yours?”

“Asleep. I told him I’d just be playing video games for the rest of the night.”

“Gotcha.” Just as Jiquin opened his mouth to ask what was the matter, Cronus shot him. The bullet hit him in the chest, and he recoiled in pain in shock. Then he exploded in rage, and let out a roar. Jiquin charged at Cronus, who emptied his gun at him. Jiquin still managed to stay on his feet, running purely on seadweller adrenaline. He swung at Cronus’s head. He ducked and tackled Jiquin, then smacked the side of his head with his pistol. He did it again, and again, and again, until it was spattered with purple blood.

Cronus stepped off the body. His fins were flared out, his hair was falling out of it’s slicked back position, and his jacket was covered in blood. He turned to Jade, who was still in the tree. He motioned at her to climb down. “Are you okay?” she asked, looking revolted.

“Yeah.”

“You look… Scary,” she said.

“It’s the adrenaline. I probably look a bit bigger than normal,” Cronus replied. “Let’s get going. We got lucky, his bodyguard wasn’t around.”

Suddenly, someone yelled, “Cronus! Cronus, oh god, are you hurt?!” They turned around, and Zeriah was running towards them. 

“Who is that?” Jade whispered. 

“Fuck.”

“Cronus! Is that your blood?” she asked, coming to a stop in front of him. She scanned him for injuries, then looked to Jade, and her rifle, then to the body of Jiquin. She put the pieces together quickly. “What did you do?”

“Zeriah, I can explain,” Cronus said, but Jade raised her rifle and shot her in the neck in an instant. He turned to her, shocked. “What the fuck was that for?”

“She had a gun in her hand,” Jade said, panic clear on her face. “She was going to shoot, she wasn’t going to listen to anything we had to say!”

Sirens went off in the distance and, for the first time, Cronus noticed that a few of the lights had turned on. “We need to move. Now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, and for leaving kudos on this story. I hope you enjoyed, and I will update again in the next couple of days. Until next time~


	6. Chapter 5: What We Don't See

They sprinted to Karkat’s house, Cronus taking Jade’s gun so she could run faster. The front door was locked, and Cronus nearly broke it down from how hard he knocked. An exhausted Karkat opened the door. “That was quick,” he yawned, letting them in.

“We fucked it up,” Cronus said, panting.

“He got away?”

“No,” Jade said. “We killed him. But someone showed up, and I had to kill her, too.”

“Who was she?” Karkat asked, looking concerned. “Are you okay, Jade?”

“I’m fine,” she replied, despite looking shaken. “I don’t know who she was. Cronus, you knew her, right?”

“Yeah,” he said. “The PA assigned her as my bodyguard. I thought I slipped away from her, but she found me and saw Jiquin’s body. She found out I’m a traitor, Karkat. I’d be tortured for that. Publicly.”

The severity of the situation dawned on Karkat. “Fuck. Okay, we’ll talk about this more once Meenah, Dirk, and Rufioh come back. For now, just relax. Jade, you can call Jake and tell him what happened if you need to.”

Jade went into the kitchen to call her cousin, and Cronus sat on the couch and put his head in his hands. “You okay?” Karkat asked. “Your fins are drooping.”

“That happens when a seadweller realizes they’re going to die,” he replied dryly.

“We don’t know that for sure,” Karkat said. “You’re sure your bodyguard is dead?”

“Positive.”

“Then the only witness is dead.”

“No, I think there may have been another. A light turned on after Jade shot her, and we heard police sirens,” Cronus explained. “That’s why we hauled ass to get here.”

“If you brought cops to my house, Slick might kill you,” Karkat said. “But it’s okay. We’ll hide you.”

“How’d that work out for you?”

Karkat glared. “I lived. Maybe I had to run for it, but I lived. And if you want to live, you might want to be a bit fucking nicer to me, because I don’t know who else could hide you.” Someone else knocked on the door. Cronus gave a pleading look to Karkat, who answered the door.

“Hey Vantas,” Meenah said, walking in. “I brought Dirk and Rufioh.”

“Perfect,” Karkat replied. “Cronus and Jade got here not too long ago.”

“I’m gonna get on my way home,” Rufioh said.

“Just wait a minute,” Karkat said. “Come in, we need to talk.” Meenah, Dirk, and Rufioh all walked in. Rufioh looked like he was trying to look as intimidating as possible while avoiding eye contact with Cronus. Jade came back into the living room, giving everyone a small wave.

“What did you two do?” Dirk asked.

Karkat explained what happened to them. “If the police were called and find Jiquin’s body, they might link the other highblood murders together. Did anyone see you?”

“Nope,” Dirk said. “I made sure of it.’

“Two human kids did, but they were on something, so I’m gonna trust they’ll chalk it up to being high as balls,” Meenah said.

“Alright. We need to find those two kids and get someone to interrogate them to make sure.”

“I’ll do it,” Rufioh said. “Besides, their humans. They might not care enough to report it.”

“True,” Dirk said. “With all the violence against humans, plenty of people I know are willing to ignore anything they see happen against trolls. It’s becoming a vicious cycle. Whatever, though, I’m not going to go into the severely inept politics we’re witnessing right now.”

“Thank gog,” Meenah said. Jade chuckled, then gave an apologetic smile to Dirk.

“Focus,” Cronus said. “This is serious. If I get caught, Feferi and Eridan might go down with me. And we might be traced back to you.”

“Why should I care what happens to you or Feferi?” Rufioh asked.

“Rufioh,” Karkat said, but he was interupted by Rufioh.

“Don’t try to stop me, any of you,” he said. “Nobody’s let me or my brother say anything against you two, and I’m fucking sick of it. You’re asking us to defend your life when you killed my fucking dad?”

“It wasn’t like that,” Cronus said.

“What was it like? You were handed the file with his picture in it, you thought about it for a few seconds, then though, ‘Well, Rufioh and Tavros are so fucking used to being walked all over they probably won’t mind if we murder their father!’”

“It had to be done!” Cronus shouted. “Do you want to guess what the Condesce would’ve done to Feferi if she refused?”

“Do you want to guess how Tavros is doing? Do any of you even care? Have any of you asked him how it felt to lose his best friend?” Rufioh asked. He looked to everyone in the room, which Cronus thought was odd. Dirk had his own problems at the time, as his brother was missing, and Jade had been exceptionally kind and thoughtful to Tavros. 

“You’re blowing it out of proportion!” Cronus said. Rufioh lunged at him and grabbed him by the horns, jerking him forward. Karkat stepped forward to get between them, but Rufioh glared at him. 

“Say that to my face,” Rufioh growled. His eyes were bright bronze, his teeth sharper than normal.

“I don’t want to fight you,” Cronus said, stopping himself from doing what Rufioh told him to do. Rufioh scowled and kneed Cronus in the stomach. Cronus dropped to his knees in pain, and Rufioh kicked him in the face. Then Dirk grabbed his arm, and Meenah his waist, and they were able to pull him away. 

Jade helped Cronus get up. “I’ll take you home,” she said. She caught Karkat’s eye and motioned to Cronus, who nodded at her and went to help Dirk and Meenah restrain Rufioh, who was baring his teeth and trying to free himself. Probably to kill Cronus.

“Are we gonna walk?” Cronus asked, somewhat conscious of the fact blood was dripping from his nose, and a few teeth felt oddly loosely.

“No,” she replied. “I’m gonna borrow Karkat’s car.” They got in and she took him home, not saying anything for the entire ride. Cronus guessed that she was too afraid to bring up how he just got the shit beaten out of him. How he probably let himself get the shit beaten out of him.

She pulled up to the front gate and stopped the car. “Will you be okay walking the rest of the way?”

“I’ll be fine. Thanks Jade.” He watched her drive away, then did his best to ignore the gnawing fear in his stomach as he walked home. At the front door, Trevin was waiting. 

“Cronus,” he said.

“Hey,” he replied, wiping some more blood from his nose and hoping he wouldn’t notice. “What are you doing out here?”

“Waiting for you. We need to leave, right now. C’mon.”

“What’s going on,” Cronus asked, feeling light headed. He was done for.

Trevin didn’t reply, but only got in his car. Cronus groaned and joined him. Trevin started the car. “All of the bodyguards in your family have a chip implanted in them to alert them of when another dies,” Trevin explained.

“What?” Cronus asked, feigning ignorance.

“Zeriah’s dead,” Trevin said. “So I told Herlod to keep an eye on Dualscar and did some investigating. Imagine my surprise when I find her lying dead near Jiquin, another PA member.”

“Not Jiquin too!”

“So I did some more digging. Particularly through your room. I find a journal with a list of names, humans and lowbloods alike. Some murdered by the PA. Some the names of murderers and rapists within the PA.”

“I like keeping notes,” Cronus lied.

“So I hacked into your laptop, and find out you and your friends, one of which is Meenah Peixes, planned to kill four prominent PA members.”

Cronus didn’t have anything to say. “I can explain.”

“You don’t have to. Eridan already did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed, thanks for coming back to read, and soon I will have the next chapter up. Until next time~


	7. Chapter 6: Pardon Me But What the Fuck

“What?” Cronus was almost positive his heart had stopped. Eridan was deep in PA, sure, but he could have never imagined he would betray his own brother.

“I showed him the messages, and he explained your friends’ plans. From there, it made sense why you would attempt to murder PA members. Anything to hurt our numbers, right?”

“Trevin, where are you taking me?” Cronus reached into his pocket. His pistol was still in his pocket and, even though it had no ammo, it could still cause blunt-force trauma. 

“My house. Nobody will expect to look there because we don’t know each other and, unlike you, I’m careful about my double-crossing.”

“What?” Okay. What the fuck. 

“Eridan is a smart kid,” he said. “A hell of a lot smarter than you, but that’s easy to forget, because he can be so annoying. We became friends because we’re the same age. There’s really nobody under eighteen in the gang.”

“Right.” There were only around ten underage members. 

“I got put in by my Mom. She’s a lowblood, but she hates humans. Hates them enough to hurt herself just to hurt them. So, she made her highblood son join to kill humans. I hated it, and I hated her.”

“So you and Eridan had something in common.”

“Yeah. We were both forced into it. Eridan and I found the other members around our age, and only two enjoyed it. The rest of us got together and started planning ways we could sabotage the PA from within. It was tough at first, when we first started. It seemed invincible. But, the more involved we got, the easier it became to see the cracks in the security.”

“Eridan’s been planning ways to take the PA down?”

“That’s what I just said, yeah.” Cronus didn’t know what to say. For so long he had been questioning Eridan’s loyalty. Half of him was overjoyed to hear he wasn’t a hateful bigot. The other half felt hurt that he hadn’t been trusted with that information. “That was part of the reason I was assigned as his bodyguard. I got some other friends to make sure I’d be with Eridan.”

“Why?”

“For one thing, it’d be easier to make plans outside the house without having to make excuses as to why we’re together,” Trevin replied. “Also, he asked me to so I could keep an eye on you.”

“Why?”

“He had a feeling you were going to get into trouble.” Trevin grinned. “And boy, was he right. The whole PA might be after your ass.”

“What are we going to do?” Cronus asked. 

“You’re going to lay low at my house for a while. Once we have a safer location set up, we’ll move you there. We’ll keep working on taking out PA.”

“Tell Eridan to connect you with out friends,” Cronus said. “We need the numbers, and it wouldn’t hurt to have more people on the inside.”

“I’ll be sure to mention it.” Trevin stopped the car, and Cronus noticed that they had come to a trailer park on the outskirts of the city. Trevin got out, and Cronus followed after him. As they walked, he said, “I need you to explain to me exactly what happened.”

Cronus did, in as best detail as he could. He gave him the names of everyone involved, with emphasis on Jade, as she was with him. “I can’t be sure that anyone saw me, but I do believe the police were called.”

“I haven’t seen any police reports yet, but it’s only been a few hours,” Trevin said. “I’ll try to see what I can do for Jade, though.”

“Thanks.” They stopped in front of one of the cleaner looking trailers. “Here. My Mom’s at work, but I already told her about you. Stay put. I’ll come back by the end of the day.”

“Alright.”

“I’ll need your phone before I go,” Trevin said, holding out his hand. Noticing Cronus’s hesitation, he said, “Orphaner Dualscar might have put a tracking device in your phone. It’s to keep you safe.” Cronus handed it over.

“Thanks Trevin,” Cronus said. Trevin shrugged and left. As Cronus heard the car start, he fell back onto the couch. He fucked up.

 

Cronus was able to sleep until a bronzeblood walked through the door. He jumped up with his gun in his hand. She seemed far too tired to react to him. “You the kid Trevin was talking about?”

“Huh?” He looked around, and the memories of the night before came crashing down on him. “Uh, yeah.” She nodded and walked past him. “Uh, what time is it?”

“Around noon,” she replied. “Why? Trevin made it pretty clear you wouldn’t have anywhere to go.”

Cronus faked a laugh. “I was just curious.” He laid back down on the couch. He didn’t realize he fell asleep until he woke up to the door opening again, though it was less dramatic. He didn’t jump up, but opened his eyes to see Trevin. “Hey,” he said, his voice hoarse.

“Hey. I only have a few minutes,” he said. “I checked the police reports. The highblood murders are all over the news.”

“Fuck.”

“Exactly. You’re stuck here. I have someone working with Jade right now.”

“Good. Hey, uh, what’s Feferi been up to?” Cronus asked.

“Eridan is keeping her updated on everything,” Trevin replied. “Eridan also connected me with your friends. Meenah wanted to tell you she took care of the two potential witnesses.”

“Good. Anything else.”

Trevin took out his phone, pulled something up, and said, “Rufioh said he hopes you get caught, thrown in jail, and, I quote, made someone’s prison bitch.”

Cronus sighed, rubbed his eyes, and pushed his hair back. “Got it. Thanks. What’s the game plan?”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re on house arrest, remember?”

Trevin left, and Cronus groaned. If he saw Karkat again, he’d never stop apologizing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like it's been forever since the last chapter but one time it took me like a month to update a different story so really I'm doing good. Thank you so much for reading and leaving a kudos, you guys rock. I hope you enjoyed! Until next time~


	8. Chapter 7: Waiting

Cronus did absolutely nothing for the next week. He read through the small amount of books Trevin had, did some housework to make up for the food he was eating, and watched a disgusting amount of tv. He was too depressed to work out and too anxious to sleep.

Trevin was too busy working to stop by often, so Cronus was stuck with his mother. She adhered so strictly to the hemocaste, she would’ve put twelve-year old Equius to shame. She worshipped him, asking how he was and if there was anything she could do to help. He denied her, only to be bombarded with questions about PA.

“I really can’t tell you anything,” Cronus would say. “I’m not important enough to know their plans. I do the dirty work for Dualscar.” She would be between starry-eyed and disappointed, wanting to know more about the ‘saviors of troll-kind,’ but more than happy to just hear about Orphaner Dualscar himself.

When Trevin did stop by, it was briefly, and he came with letters from Eridan in tow. “He wanted to explain everything in depth,” Trevin said. 

Cronus spent a day reading through them. There was also a short letter from Karkat, telling him that everyone was okay, and a lengthy note from Feferi hoping he was okay and sending him love (his heart skipped a beat at that).

Eridan’s letters were pages long with cramped handwriting. Cronus chalked that up to his usual long-winded writing until he began reading and saw he had a lot to explain.

I’m sorry, he began. I should’ve opened up at the start about what I was up too, but I was afraid you wouldn’t trust my friends. Trevin told me told you about our group of friends that are on our side and helping overthrow PA from within. We’ve been doing small stuff, mostly. We’ve helped leak information to the Psionic, who has been leaking it anonymously online. We’ve let lowbloods and humans escape, and you’ve seen the end results of that. 

My greatest concern was getting caught. Cro, you know Dad. He wouldn’t have killed me, he would have done something worse. That must sound rich coming from me now that you’re in that position, but I was scared. I still am. It was all kept under wraps. 

I haven’t been active with Karkat and everybody because I didn’t want the two worlds colliding. If everyone found out I had a few more people on the inside, they’d be pressuring me to do something. It’s better if I have complete control over what’s going on. Safer. Look at you! You felt pressured to do something, and now you’re in hiding!

We have a few plans, and I’ll tell you them when I see you again. The police are investigating the situation, but the Condesce is trying to stop the investigation and let the PA take over. If the Threshecutioners come out, you’re fucked. Let’s hope the whole situation goes to rest soon. Jade is also in hiding at a different location. We aren’t as worried about her, as the Condesce would be happy to pin it on an outspoken human rights protestor than do an actual investigation. 

There aren’t many people you could trust outside of our friends and Trevin, but here are a few more. Lortiy Kropky, Rintri Groscy, and Damien Crosuk are also there to help. They might stop by occasionally to bring information to you. Those aren’t the only people in the group, but them, Trevin, and I are the founders, and the only people I would trust with your location.

The next pages droned on, asking for forgiveness and promising to visit at one point. Cronus didn’t realize how separated they had been for so long. All of their conversations had been forced, especially as of late. This letter was probably the first time in a while Eridan had been completely and utterly honest with him. 

True to his word, Eridan sent more letters with Trevin every time he visited. They were full of updates on the investigation. There was little to no evidence, the suspects were a seadweller male and a human female. Ages and physical features couldn’t be determined further than that. The police were willing to hand the investigation the Threshecutioners to move it along.

If that happened, Trevin would go to the Midnight Crew and see what they could do. Even then, he might as well turn himself in. There’d be no hiding from the Threshecutioners, one of the few groups privy to old Alternian technology. 

His friend hadn’t met up in a while. They were lying especially low so as to not be arrested. Meenah sent him a short note telling him to go fuck himself for ruining her late night fun. He didn’t bother mentioning that, no matter what, the death of four highbloods would’ve caused a ripple no matter how perfect the crime. 

Amidst weeks of doing anything to keep him busy, like touching up on Alternian and rereading the Harry Potter series, he got an odd letter from Rufioh.

Hey, uh, I shouldn’t have punched you. Or kicked you in the face. Well then.

But you deserved it. And I don’t forgive you for anything. But, for what it’s worth, I know we need you helping us, and I hope you get out of this okay. Cronus sighed and crumpled up the letter, throwing it to the side. That was probably the best he could hope for.

He had been spending an obscene amount of time thinking about the Summoner. He was the cool parent to every child. The DILF to every teen. And he killed him. The rationalization of it was easy. If he didn’t do it, someone else would’ve. The Summoner was dead the moment The Condesce wanted him dead, not the moment he and Feferi decided to act on it. 

But could they have saved him? Thrown him in hiding and simply tell the Condesce that he disappeared. Save Tavros and Rufioh all the pain of losing a father. 

No matter what he could’ve done, the past wouldn’t change. It would remain the past. No amount of wishing he could time travel would fix it. The best he could do was fix it now, in the present. He had Trevin take a letter to Rufioh containing two words. I’m sorry.

Rufioh sent back a simple I know. 

The simplicity of the response didn’t bother him. It was the fact that it was devoid of resentment that made waiting slightly more bearable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thanks for reading and leaving kudos! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I will update this story soon. Until next time~


	9. Chapter 8: Where To Go When There's Nowhere Left

Three weeks after he went into hiding, the police officially handed the case over to the Threshecutioners, fearing that a troll-human duo were on a killing spree against highbloods. The human was ‘found’ almost immediately, allowing Jade to come out of hiding. Owen Durth was arrested and awaiting trial, dealing a massive blow to his human rights activist group.

The Threshecutioners refused to talk to the press about any information regarding the search for the troll culprit. Cronus felt twenty years older than he was, and every waking moment felt like he was drawing closer to his death. 

Eridan had struck up a deal with Spades Slick, although neither were happy with it. Slick had a safehouse set up in a suburb on the outskirts of the city for any of his members that got into hot water. Luckily, nobody was there, and they were setting the house up, making sure everyone saw the amount of carapaces walking in and out to avoid suspicion. 

The day before Cronus was supposed to move, Trevin brought him a hefty amount of letters. “I explained that I won’t be able to play messenger boy anymore, and I don’t think any of The Midnight Crew members will be able to do it frequently,” he said.

“Tell them I said thanks,” Cronus said. Then he looked to Trevin. “And thank you. You didn’t have to help me out like this. I got into this mess because I was stupid.”

“Yeah,” Trevin replied. Then, ever the troll of few words, he left. Eridan and Feferi sent something, as usual. A letter from Karkat, also normal. Something from Rufioh, as their slightly awkward conversations continued to grow into something almost friendly. A letter from Diamonds Droog, probably instructions. Then, surprisingly enough, there was something from Meenah.

Hey loser, she began, and Cronus couldn’t help but smile as he read on. You fucked up big time buoy, I’m not gonna lie. But we all fucked up together. Yeah, you’re responsible, but only like, ⅙ responsible. If you end up dying, don’t blame yourself.

I’m not really sure what to say, honestly. I’ve known you since we were guppies, and, even though you’re annoying as hell, you’re like a weird brother to me. If the Threshecutioners come knocking, krill ‘em all. 

Sea you later, bitch.

Cronus folded the paper and put it in his pocket. That was easily the nicest thing Meenah had ever said to him.

Eridan’s and Feferi’s letters wished him luck and guaranteed that they’d see him soon. Karkat gave him basic updates on the Threshecutioner’s actions based on Redglare’s insider information. Currently, there was little to no progress, but it wouldn’t stay like that for long. Droog gave him dry instructions, telling him when to leave and where to hide, and what to avoid doing. He burned the letter per his request. 

Rufioh’s was… Well, it was complicated. Hey. Uh, don’t die. I still have to kick your ass. You could take any Threshecutioner any day. I mean, you took my dad down, so you’ve got the stuff. Alright. Uh, see you later, hopefully.

Unsure what to do with the letter, he threw it away. Looking at him made him nauseous. He apologized, couldn’t he just forget about the Summoner?

Couldn’t he just forget about everything, and wash away all his mistakes, and walk away clean and free?

That night, two trolls came to the trailer. He didn’t recognize either of them. There was a seadweller and a highblood, both female. Trevin’s mother, home for the night on a rare occasion, opened the door for them “Lortiy! Rintri! What are you doing at this hour?”

“Hi Ms. Askora!” the highblood exclaimed with a smile. “I hope we didn’t wake you.”

“No, I was just about to turn in for the night.”

“We’ll be out of your hair soon,” the seadweller said. “Trevin couldn’t make it because of work, so he asked us to pick Cronus up.” 

Cronus stood from the couch and slicked his hair back, throwing his jacket on over his shirt. They were cute. “I’m Cronus,” he said. 

The seadweller gave him a once-over. “I thought you’d be taller,” she said. 

Cronus gave a forced grin. “That’s what everyone says.”

“I’m Rintri, and this is Lortiy!” the highblood said. “I know we haven’t met yet, but Eridan said he told you about us? So we should be able to move this along.”

“He mentioned you guys.”

“I think Eridan’s taller than him,” Lortiy whispered. Rintri smiled, her eyes twinkling.

“I’m right here,” Cronus muttered. He picked up his bag at his feet that held a few clothes and other things of his. “Thank you for everything, Mrs. Askora.”

“Anything to help trollkind,” she said. Cronus smiled uncomfortably, and Rintri and Lortiy, looked at each other. 

As they left, Cronus asked, “Has she always been like that?”

“Xenophobic?” Rintri asked. “Yes. But we’ve also only known her for about a year. We met Trevin in PA.”

“Gotcha.” He looked at Lortiy. “Hey, you’re a seadweller.”

“Astute observation.”

“I mean, why don’t you have a bodyguard. I had to kill mine, and I can’t even imagine how much security increased at PA.”

“My bodyguard was attached to my hip until I gave him an ultimatum.”

“Which was?”

“Leave me alone when I was with Rintri, or deal with everything that happened between us.” Rintri blushed, and Cronus got the impression he didn’t have a chance with either of them. 

The car they had wasn’t really undercover. It was a shitty, bright red lemon. “You guys came to get me in this?” Cronus asked, not caring to hide his disgust. This was Terezi’s wet dream.

“Get over yourself,” Lortiy said.

“It’s my car,” Rintri explained, “But it’s fine, because the place you’re staying is my neighborhood. Nobody will think twice if they see this car. It’d be more suspicious if we showed up in something more disguised. We’re hiding in plain sight!”

Cronus didn’t feel reassured, especially when, as unimpressively ‘short’ he was, he had to duck to get in. The car was stuffed with empty bags and fast food wrappers. “We need to clean out your car,” Lortiy said, rustling some of the trash underneath her feet.

“Later,” Rintri whined. Cronus fell back and watched them bicker. As much as it sucked to know the two were off the market, he took comfort in the fact Eridan had most definitely hit on both of them before realizing they were together.

The suburb looked straight out of an old Earth textbook about the 1950s. The houses were identical and, even though it was late and nobody was out, it was clear money wasn’t an issue here. Rintri pulled into a driveway, and Cronus looked at the house. It was plain, nobody was home, and it looked as though it had never been lived in. 

“This is the place!” Rintri said, getting out. Getting out of the tiny car was easier than getting in, and Cronus was able to stretch out his legs. “I might be able to stop by in a couple of days to drop of food and stuff. It’ll have to be at night, though, so you better get used to being nocturnal!”

“Trolls are nocturnal, hon,” Lortiy said. 

Cronus smiled at them. “I’ll see you in a while then.” They said goodbye and drove off, presumably to Rintri’s house. Cronus stepped inside and dropped his bag. It was certainly more spacious than Trevin’s trailer. 

But he was completely and utterly alone, and it was only a matter of time until someone found him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thanks for coming back and reading! I hope you enjoyed! Until next time~


	10. Chapter 9: Fight or Flight

The safe house was a slight improvement from Trevin’s trailer. There was more room, he could wander and stretch out, and it was much less cluttered. The one flaw was the lack of people. He was beginning to miss Trevin’s mother despite her obsession with seadwellers. 

The house had wifi and a cheap, shitty laptop. He could use it so long as he didn’t use any of his own accounts. He stuck to new sites and illegal streaming sites. Without much to do online and with much more space, he was able to start working out. Cronus took comfort in this, knowing he might have to face Threshecutioners in the near future. Fit Cronus would be able to last a few more seconds than lazy Cronus. 

The more time he spent doing nothing, the more he realized how paranoid he had become. Every noise outside was the Threshecutioners, coming to cull him. Every creak in the house was an intruder. The more self aware he became, the less he could do about it. He almost had a heart attack the first time Rintri came in to bring groceries and mail and make sure he wasn’t insane. 

“What the fuck?!”

“Oh fuck, sorry Rintri.”

“Why do you have a freakin’ gun on me?” 

Cronus looked at her, then the gun in his hands, then back at her. “I thought you were someone else?”

It was the norm for her visits, and, by the third time around, she didn’t even flinch. By the fifth time, someone else did.

“Cronus!” 

“Kankri?” Cronus dropped the gun, and Rintri and Kankri yelped when it hit the floor. “What are you doing here?” He couldn’t hide the joy on his face.

“Why do you have a gun?” he replied. “Why would you-”

“He does it every time, relax,” Rintri said, putting her bag down. “Here’s some more milk, by the way.”

“Sweet, thanks.”

“He does this every time?” Kankri repeated incredulously. “And you’re not concerned? He’s paranoid, he could be going insane! He might blow his brains out because of fear!”

“Relax, Kan,” Cronus said. “The Threshecutioners could barge in any moment. If I’m not prepared, I’ll die.”

Kankri sighed, then hugged Cronus. “Why do I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever?” he asked. 

Cronus patted his back. “Because you haven’t.” They let go, and Cronus asked, “What are you doing here? Isn’t this dangerous? I’m surprised Spades would even approve of this.”

“Well, that’s because he didn’t,” Kankri replied. 

“Which reminds me, I better get going before it gets suspicious,” Rintri said. “I’ll see you next week.”

“Why aren’t you leaving too?” Cronus asked.

“Well, you know how everyone goes through a rebellious phase?” Cronus nodded, taken back to a time where he would bring home human flings solely to piss his father off. “And how I never went through one because of the loss of my father and my new guardian being so irresponsible that nothing I could do, no matter how illegal, would technically be rebellious.” Cronus nodded again. “Well-”

“You’re going through it now,” he finished with a grin.

“Yes,” Kankri said. “And that entails me staying with you until next week to keep you company. And I think that’s a rather good decision, considering you’re greeting you’re only social contact with a gun to their head.”

Cronus pulled Kankri into a hug, picking him up. “Thank gog.”

“Cronus, are you okay?” Kankri asked, holding onto his shoulder.

Cronus set him down. “I’ve had absolutely nothing to do other than analyze all seven versions of the harry potter films and it’s getting out of control. I need company.”

“How bad is it?”

“I have a pros/cons list for each one of the movies, and I have those organized into each one of the remakes. I’m trying to definitively rate them from best to worst,” Cronus explained. “It’s hell. I could explain each movie shot for shot.”

“How is that any different from middle school?” Kankri smiled.

Cronus grinned back, not minding that he had been teased. “I’ve missed you.”

The few days were amazing. Even though nothing had really changed, as Cronus was still spending the whole day in pajamas either working out or watching movies, he had someone to do it with. Kankri would sit to the side reading, offering words of encouragement to Cronus as he was exercising. He would offer some spectacularly terrible rom-coms to watch that he insisted he had never seen and only got the names of from Karkat. Cronus didn’t buy it for a second. 

It was like having his awesome best friend as a roommate, except the threat of death was omnipresent. 

“Hey, how are Eridan and Feferi doing?” Cronus asked.

“They’ve been dependent on each other,” Kankri replied, putting his book down. “Eridan’s putting up a good front, but Feferi mentioned that he’s more stressed than ever.”

“And Feferi?”

“Trying to stay optimistic. Happy that you’re alive, and completely sure that she’ll see you again.”

“Well, that makes one of us,” Cronus replied.

“I know your prospects seem bleak right now,” Kankri began. Cronus stared at him. Kankri continued, unfazed. “But you have the entirety of the Midnight Crew protecting you. And, according to Ms. Pyrope, the Threshecutioners have no solid leads other than the gun used to kill Zeriah.” Cronus looked up, worried. “Jade’s gun is very common, so it’s not a good lead.”

“What about the fact I beat the shit out of Jiquin with my bare hands?”

“I know. It’s likely that a portion of your DNA was left on the body,” Kankri said. “But it’s not on the other victims, which might throw them off.”

“What about Meenah, though?” Cronus asked. “If they find any DNA from a fuschia blood, it narrows the perpetrators down to three. And it won’t be hard to figure out who did it.”

Kankri gave him a sad smile. “There’s nothing we could do about it. We just have to wait.”

The murders had, at least, generated some cult-like fame. People were drawing comparisons to the famed Jack the Ripper. How could four murders happen over such a distance at the same time? People were quick to point out it was likely a group effort or just a strange coincidence, but the conspiracy theorists of the deepest holes of the internet came out with pride to claim the murderer was a supernatural being.

“Hey Kan, did you know I can travel through shadows?” Cronus asked.

“Really?” Kankri replied, grinning from ear to ear. “I read that you can duplicate yourself and send your clones to do your bidding.”

“Ah, but what about my super speed that allows me to get halfway across the country in a moment?” Kankri chuckled and punched him lightly in the shoulder as he left the room. Cronus grinned, watching him leave. “You’re just jealous because you don’t have awesome fake powers!”

Kankri was Cronus’s oldest friend, both growing up as socially awkward and annoying outcasts. PA made it too dangerous to hang around a mutant blood, much less a Vantas. This was a return to one of the happiest times of Cronus’s life.

Then it all came crashing down. Rintri came by two days earlier than she was supposed to. “No time to explain, I can’t stay long,” she said, ignoring Cronus’s gun. “The Threshecutioners found violet blood mixed with Jiquin’s own blood. That narrows it down to you, Eridan, and Dualscar. And you’re the only one without an alibi.”

“Fuck.”

“I need to get Kankri back home,” Rintri continued. “Mr. Captor wiped all of your conversations relating to this to throw suspicion away from your friends. I won’t be able to come back so Eridan’s plan isn’t compromised.”

“I’m not leaving,” Kankri said.

“Kankri-”

“No,” Kankri said, pushing Cronus aside. “My father fought injustice and corruption. Karkat is doing the same. I can’t be the only Vantas unwilling to make sacrifices. I’ll stay, and I’ll help you fight.”

“There’s absolutely no way you two could win against Threshecutioners,” Rintri said. “I mean, I wish that wasn’t the case because I really like you guys, but there’s just no way!”

Cronus looked from Rintri to Kankri. Kankri looked completely set in his beliefs, and nothing was more painful than a stubborn Vantas. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to find a way,” Cronus said.

Rintri sighed. “Well, I’ll be praying for you guys.” She hugged them both and said, “You better not die.”

“I can promise you wholeheartedly that it not part of the plan,” Cronus said. 

After she left, Kankri said, “She seems rather blasé about our imminent demise.”

“It comes with being a thug,” Cronus replied. He went into one of the bedrooms, Kankri on his heel. 

“What are you doing?”

“There’s no way we could survive a Threshecutioner attack,” Cronus said as he found a small bag in the closet. “We have to run away if we want to survive.”

“Run away?” Kankri repeated. “What help is it if we run away?”

“We survive.” Cronus replied. “And our families don’t get dragged into this. So if you want to keep fighting the PA, you have to leave with me.” Cronus offered his hand. “I have a plan, if you’ll trust me.”

Tentatively, Kankri took his hand. “Alright. I’ll run away.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. So, quick update, I don't know how long this story will be. I'm a few chapters ahead of what I'm updating and I do know how this story will end, but I don't know how long it will take. Anyway, thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed, and I will see you guys with the next update. Until next time~


	11. Chapter 10: On the Lamb

There wasn’t much to pack. There were a few snacks left, some clothes, and a few small knives Cronus grabbed. Just in case. It was already the dead of night, so they didn’t hesitate in leaving. The neighborhood was an average suburb, and they were dead in the middle of it. They’d either take the main road out or cut through a dozen yards. The city was about half an hour away, which was far too close to comfort. 

“Do you know where we’ll be going?”

“Not yet,” Cronus replied. “Our best bet is to a troll-minority country.”

“There aren’t many of those near us,” Kankri replied. “The only one I can think of is Rerune.”

“That’s what I’m thinking, too,” Cronus said. “Here’s the plan. We get to the closest town we find and buy a map.”

“We don’t have any cash.”

“We steal a map, then,” Cronus amended. “With our stolen map, we trace out the best route to Rerune.”

“We can’t walk there, it’s thousands of miles away!” Kankri said. 

“Yeah. We can try and find a better way, but we can’t buy tickets, and we can’t risk anyone picking us up and recognizing me. Once the Threshecutioners realize we’re gone, there’ll be a nationwide search. Plus, any PA members from around the world could pick us up at any time.

Kankri looked at him, aghast. “Just how ‘worldwide’ is the PA?”

“Not too bad, once we get out of Skaia, not too bad. Any troll majority country is relatively the same as things here.”

“And, let me think,” Kankri said. “We have three countries to go through between Skaia and Rerune, right?”

“If we can take the direct route.”

“So we’re possibly going through The Confederation of New Alternians, Rhodes, and The Harluk Kingdom.”

“Yes.”

“The CNA and HK are almost exclusively troll nations!” Kankri exclaimed. Cronus hushed him, gesturing to the houses around them. They had decided to make their way through the yards, which would take them to the highway. “Sorry, sorry. But are you insane? We’ll be murdered! I’ll be murdered!”

“I won’t let anyone touch you,” Cronus replied. He helped Kankri get over a fence. “And it’s either immediate death, or potential death.”

“You’re right.” Kankri said. He looked back. They were only in the third yard. “This is going to take forever.”

Cronus clapped his shoulder. “Yeah. It will. Less talking, more walking.” They continued through the yards until the reached the highway. It had taken about an hour, with the most time consuming part being their need to stay hidden. Every noise was amplified and made them stop in their tracks until they were sure it was safe to move. 

It was still pitch black outside. Whenever a car drove by they ducked to the ground and laid still. Kankri stood out like a sore thumb in his red sweater, but refused to take it off because he was cold. Cronus couldn’t say much; when morning came, his fins would make him a blatant target.

As the sun rose, Cronus yawned. The next town over, Chesterfield, was still a ways away. There were some houses, but nowhere they could stay. Eventually, they called it for the night and broke into a house that was for sale. It was completely empty, not even furnished. Cronus used his jacket as a pillow and fell asleep with the sun filtering in through the window.

Kankri woke him up later, when the sun was beginning to set. “Cronus,” he yawned. “Let’s eat so we can get out of here.” He rummaged through one of the bags and pulled out a box of crackers and some water.”

“We should snag some food later. Something more substantial.”

“You know, if we were humans we could subsist on potatoes and eggs.”

“Trolls are hardier,” Cronus replied. 

“A few types are,” Kankri said. “Olive bloods are naturally hardy and can go days without a meal. You and I, however, have to eat at least once a day to stay healthy. And the meals have to be high in protein.”

“Gotcha,” Cronus said. “Mental note: steal lots of meat.”

“Oh! And some candy.” Cronus stared at him, and Kankri blushed. “I mean, if we can.”

They left the house and walked to the main street of the town. It was close enough to New Jack City to see the skyline. Cronus felt sick looking at it. 

Kankri, the more unintimidating of the two, went into one of the general stores. With some of the change in his pocket, he could effectively go in and buy a cheap slushie while stuffing a map and some snacks into the front of his sweater.

“Wow, you got fat,” Cronus said when Kankri walked out with his slushie in hand. 

“Be nice,” Kankri replied. “My sweater is too baggy to even show.”

“Yeah. I just said that to rile you up. You get so cute when you’re angry.”

Kankri rolled his eyes and handed him the slushie. They walked down the main street until they found a bench to wait at. Kankri gave him the map. “Where to next?”

Cronus opened it and said, “This is just a map of the country.”

“Yeah, it was the best I could do. We have to start somewhere, and we have to find our way to the border anyways.”

“Good point. Let’s just avoid cities and take a direct route.”

“I might suggest a slight detour.” Cronus looked at Kankri, curious. He sipped from his straw, then said, “I saw a decorative map of the state in the store. There’s a railroad that heads south for a while a few miles east from now. We should go there and try to hitch a ride on a train. It should save us some travel time.”

Cronus grinned at him. “Sweet.”

“Sweet indeed.”

 

It was easy to get to the railroads. They just walked east and found it that night. The hard part was waiting for a train heading south. They walked on the edge of the tracks just to keep moving, sleeping in some bushes during the day. A few trains passed, all going north.

“Dammit!” Cronus said, bleary-eyed and freshly awakened. “Every time they wake me up it’s a train going the wrong way.” Kankri was too tired to formulate a response.

It took three days for a southern-bound train to pass. Cronus and Kankri ran next to it, Cronus jumping on first and pulling Kankri on with him. Panting, they sat in the open compartment, which contained crates held down by rope. “I don’t think there’s a door,” Kankri said, out of breath. “We’ll have to hide whenever we stop.”

“Kan, when’s the last time you exercised?” He huffed in response, although it might’ve just been him catching his breath. 

The train didn’t stop for a few days, giving them time to relax. “Hey,” Cronus said, nudging Kankri with his foot. “Do you have any experience fighting? Like, at all?”

“Uh,” Kankri said. “Well, physically, no. But I have won a few battles of wit.”

“Oh gog, you’re such a nerd,” Cronus said. “Alright, I need to teach you some stuff.” For their stay on the train, Cronus taught him some basic hand-to-hand moves and how to use a knife. He wasn’t a quick learner, but he tried, and was able to copy Cronus for the most part.

In hindsight, letting his bookish friend come with him wasn’t the best idea. 

By the time the train stopped at a station, Kankri and Cronus bolted into a nearby forest. “Alright. We got five days of fast travel.”

“Now we just have to find out where we are,” Kankri replied. They walked to town and found a gas station. In the corner, there were a few keychains advertising the town as Wernersburg, Crosylvania.

“We’re less than a hundred miles from the border!” Cronus said. 

“Yay! We only have to walk less than a hundred miles.”

It took five days to reach the border. It was too guarded to cross. “What do we do?” Cronus asked.

“Sailing would be the best option,” Kankri said. “There’s always smugglers willing to move people across the border.”

“For a price,” Cronus replied. “That’s how so many gangs down here make their money.” Kankri didn’t say anything. “You know,” Cronus said, looking at his friend. “We could just steal a boat.”

Kankri sighed. “I knew you were going to say that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading, the next chapter should be out soon. Until next time~


	12. Chapter 11: The Enemy of Your Enemy

When Cronus was younger, and Eridan was barely past grub-hood, Dualscar took them sailing often. It had been his livelihood for so long, and he refused to not pass some skills onto his kids. Eridan never cared for it much, preferring to swim, or ride one of the seahorse lusii the city kept. Cronus hated it to spite his father, but remembered enough to get by. 

Kankri, one the other hand, was completely averse to the idea. “Kankri, I know what I’m doing, and we’re completely safe.”

“You do realize that, on Alternia, I would’ve been slaughtered for going near water because of my mutant status, right?”

“Good point,” Cronus replied. “But you realize that we’re on a different planet trying not to die, right?”

 

Kankri sighed, and Cronus took that as him conceding to his plan. There was a small dock nearby with abysmal security. He found a small boat with the keys inside. A quick check revealed it was working fine, and it was small enough to hopefully go unnoticed. 

“Shouldn’t we wear life vests?”

“I can breath underwater,” Cronus replied. “And I’ll save you if you drown. Calm down, and get in the boat.”

“What if we get caught?” Kankri asked. Cronus looked at him, and saw the fear that was evident in his eyes. 

“We won’t get caught,” Cronus replied. “And if we do, we fight.”

“I can’t fight off anything,” Kankri groaned, putting his head in his hands. Cronus stared at him, getting flashbacks of teenager Kankri, who would complain about everything.

“Look,” Cronus said. “Try to be positive. We don’t have to go through the Confederation of New Alternians! That’s one troll nation we don’t have to worry about. The Harluk Kingdom and Rerune are both landlocked, but we can stop at Rhodes. Human majority!”

“Humans aren’t going to be any better,” Kankri said. “The whole world is watching what Skaia is doing. Every non-troll majority country is wary of trolls, especially when they’re from Skaia.” Kankri gave Cronus a sad look. “Especially when they’re a seadweller.”

“Well, I guess you’ll be in charge once we get to Rhodes.”

It was night when they set sail, and Kankri fell asleep after complaining about being seasick. Cronus had a natural sense of direction and kept them moving south. They crossed the border in minutes, and Cronus could see beachhouses from the CNA. 

Kankri woke up as the sun rose. “Where are we,” he yawned as the waves rocked them back and forth. 

“Just off the coast of CNA,” Cronus replied, rubbing his eyes. 

“How much longer?”

“I’m not sure,” he replied. “Once we stop seeing fancy beach houses we can dock.”

It ended up taking a day and a half. Cronus pushed himself to stay awake, knowing full well that Kankri would freak out if left alone. Kankri was too nauseous to eat much, and Cronus was happy to gorge himself on food for the extra energy. By the time Cronus spotted a modest house on the beach, he felt like crying.

Kankri had to help dock the boat safely. When they were stopped and on the beach, Cronus had him check the boat for a tracking device while he took a power nap. Ten minutes later, Kankri woke Cronus up with a small device in his hand. “I think this is a tracking device. Cronus, what do we do? The Threshecutioners are probably tracking us right now!”

Too tired to reply, Cronus took it from him and threw it as far into the water as he could. “There. We’ll be drifting in the open sea.”

Kankri looked at him. “Let’s try and find some help. Maybe someone will offer you a bed to sleep in?” Cronus groaned and went to lay back down, but Kankri put all his strength into keeping him standing. “C’mon, we can’t stay out here.”

Kankri dragged him toward the house and knocked. After a few moments, a middle-aged human woman opened the door. “Oh. Hello,” she hesitated, not opening the door entirely.

“Hello ma’am,” Kankri began. “I know this is probably alarming to you, but can we come in and talk to you for a moment?” 

The woman examined them. Kankri was grinning from ear to ear, looking completely harmless. Cronus tried to do the same, but his smile probably looked threatening, and his exhaustion didn’t make him look any better. “Alright. Please, come in.”

The home wasn’t barren, but it wasn’t excessive. Rhodes was a country founded by traditional conservative Catholic humans. The amount of crosses hanging in her house made that clear. Kankri explained everything to her about their situation, and Cronus stuck to examining the surroundings. There were plenty of pictures of her and her family. She had a husband, dark haired and dark skin, about the same age, who was a little out of shape. She had two daughters, both teens. One looked like her, with tanned skin and curly blond hair. The younger had darker skin, short hair, and a truly impressive amount of make-up.

Nobody other than the woman was home, though. “My name is Rosa,” she said. “You can stay until my family gets home, and then we’ll decide if you can continue staying here.”

“We’d only be in Rhodes for a few days. We’re trying to get to Rerune,” Kankri said.

“Regardless, people around here might not be too welcoming,” Rosa explained. “We don’t want trouble with Skaia. We’re one of four human majority countries and, frankly, most people think the trolls are trying to take over.”

“They are,” Cronus said. Rosa and Kankri both looked at him, so he continued. “That’s absolutely what they’re trying to do. But we’re trying to stop it, and we’re being hunted down for it.”

After a few moments, Rosa said, “I’ll see what I can do.”

Kankri and Cronus spent the day trying to find out what was happening in Skaia. Rosa let them use her laptop, and they found out the investigation was stronger than ever. Threshecutioners were combing the country for the seadweller. His name wasn’t in the news, probably thanks to Dualscar.

“I wonder if anyone is wondering where I am,” Kankri said.

“I’m pretty sure Rintri would’ve let everyone know you’re with me.” Nothing else in Skaia had changed. Humans were still facing massive discrimination from, well, everyone. 

It was nice to be inside a house. There was air conditioning. There was good food. They could use a bathroom. Take their shoes off. 

Rosa didn’t talk much to Cronus. He couldn’t blame her. When he wasn’t napping, he looked like hell. He hadn’t had access to any hair gel, so his normally slicked back hair was currently hanging in his face. The fact that he had fins probably made him a clear threat.

Her daughters came home first. The oldest, Lisa, looked shocked to see two trolls in her house. The youngest, Cameron, didn’t acknowledge them. That was Cronus’s and Kankri’s cue to leave. 

Kankri led Cronus through the town, happy to have a moment away from being chased. “Do you want to get some food?”

“I don’t have any money,” Cronus replied, still grumpy from his multiple all-nighters.

“Rosa gave me some money,” he said, patting his pocket. “What do you say?”

Cronus shrugged. “I don’t think anyone would serve me.” Anyone walking past them skirted to the side, trying not to look terrified. 

“They could be just as scared of me,” Kankri huffed.

Cronus looked him up and down. Short, scrawny, with fluffy hair and a red sweater. “Sure.”

They spent a few hours wandering the town, getting to know the area they were in. Rhodes only had one big city, the capital city in the center. They could travel through plenty of farm towns, not passing anyone to give away where they were. Good.

They went back to Rosa’s house when the sun began to set. Her husband had come home and wasn’t alarmed to see them. Kankri took the lead. “Hello! I’m Kankri Vantas, and this is my friend, Cronus Ampora.” Cronus nodded.

“Hello! I’m Lisa!” the oldest replied, forcing herself to be cheerful. Cameron didn’t say anything, only staring them down. 

“I’m Bud,” Rosa’s husband said. “She told me about your situation. You can stay the night, and we’ll talk more about this in the morning.”

“Thank you so much,” Kankri said. “And, I promise, we’ll be out of your hair as soon as possible.” Cronus tuned out of Kankri’s gushing. Cameron was staring at him, not caring to look away when he noticed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I think this was a long wait. Sorry guys. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I will update again soon. Until next time~


	13. Chapter 12: Decisions

Kankri and Cronus had been staying with Rosa’s family for two days. With nothing to do (and with Cronus barring him from going on his blog), Kankri started doing housework. Cronus, however, was stuck online. The Threshecutioners were scouring the country with no clues beyond spottings of the Cronus. They were more likely to find the Bigfoot Lusus. 

Cronus knew it was only a matter of time before they searched beyond Skaia’s borders. The next place would be the CNA which, thankfully, they had completely avoided. Then it would be the boat, which could be traced to Rhodes, but the Threshecutioners would first search the ocean before realizing the the GPS was no longer attached to the boat.

That didn’t give them much time. The goal was to leave by the end of the week. It would be painful to leave civilization after five short days, but it would be nicer than dying.

Rosa and Bud were kind to them, not bothering to ask just what they had done to get in trouble. They were still wary around Cronus. He couldn’t blame them. His mood hadn’t improved. He was happier knowing he was moving than standing still, waiting to be caught.

Lisa was a constant source of joy. It was exhausting. It was like Jade and Feferi had a lovechild who was raised by Nepeta away from any trouble that could have dampened her spirits. It was terrifying. A younger Cronus would’ve enjoyed it. The hardened criminal he had become made him wish she could just shut up.

He hated Cameron for the opposite reason. She had maybe said five words to him. “Over there,” when he asked where the bathroom was, and “We use tap,” when he asked if they had water. It was disconcerting. If she wasn’t human, he’d suspect she was PA.

“Cronus, we should go out and buy some supplies,” Kankri said. They were home alone. “It’d be best if we didn’t have to stop at all through the Harluk Kingdom.”

“It’d be best if we didn’t go out,” Cronus replied. “Once the Threshecutioners come through, anyone who saw us will tell them everything.”

“Maybe if you go out,” Kankri said. “I, however, am not being searched for.”

“Do whatever you want,” Cronus said. “I bet the Threshecutioners will be looking for your ass soon enough once they realize I’m travelling with a mutantblood.”

Kankri sighed and sat beside Cronus. “Hey, why are you being a bigger jerk than usual?”

“I’m usually a jerk?”

Kankri ignored him. “We’re safe. We’re under a roof. We’re eating three square meals. We’re almost at Rerune. What’s bugging you?”

“I’m scared of getting caught, Kan. What else is new?”

Kankri frowned. “Try to lighten up. Being in a bad mood won’t get us anywhere.” Cronus nodded, unable to formulate a response. “Hey, do you have any idea on how we’re getting through the HK? I figured I can act as your servant so I don’t get kidnapped and killed, but there’s no way we can hide that you’re a seadweller.”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Cronus, I don’t want to upset you,” Kankri said, putting his hand on Cronus’s arm. “But the PA will be everywhere in the HK, and they’ll be looking for you. They’ll know what you look like.” Cronus swallowed, but Kankri continued. “We have to figure this out, or we’ll die.”

“I know that!” Cronus snapped. Then, because it was Kankri, he softened and said, “I’ve been thinking about it. You’ll be the first to know when I have a plan.”

Kankri nodded and got up. Cronus watched him walk away. Honestly, he had an idea. He didn’t like it.

 

Cronus was up at midnight for no good reason. His sleep schedule was a wreck, but he wasn’t going to do anything to fix it.

Someone came downstairs. Cronus didn’t move. He was sitting in the dark, only staying awake thinking. Then the lights flicked on. “We need to talk,” Cameron said. 

Cronus looked at her. “Don’t you have school tomorrow?”

“Don’t you have a police force to run away from?”

Cronus glared. That was such a lame fucking comeback. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not an idiot,” she replied. “I look into the people who randomly stay at my house. The mutant’s clean. You’re a different story.” Cronus didn’t say anything, but tried to keep his face void of any emotion. Cameron pushed on. “There’s a nationwide search in Skaia after the death of five seadwellers. A human and seadweller were the perpetrators. The human has been arrested, but the seadweller must have vanished.”

“Plenty of seadwellers,” Cronus said. “Maybe they should focus their search on coastal cities.”

“Here’s what’s weird, though,” Cameron said. “The actual blood color was never released. Which made me think it was one of Her Imperial Condescension’s daughters. But that didn’t make sense, as they’re both accounted for. So maybe it was one of Orphaner Dualscar’s children.”

“Anything’s possible.” Cronus said.

“Tell me everything before I call the police, Ampora.”

Cronus hesitated. Revealing everything could be damaging, but being arrested would be a one way ticket to the Threshecutioners. So he explained what had happened as best he could. He left out the PA and made it seem like vigilante justice, like he had seen the highbloods committing crimes and wanted to put a stop to it. He left out what he and his friends were doing, and said that Kankri was only one of his closest friends who wanted to help him escape.

“We’re trying to get to Rerune to hide out from the Threshecutioners,” Cronus finished. “It’s a carapace majority, and it’s far from Skaia.”

“You’ll have to get through the HK to get to Rerune,” Cameron said. “You’ll be arrested as soon as you cross the border.”

“I know,” Cronus replied. “If you have any ideas I’d love to hear them.”

Cameron looked at him. “I normally am one hundred percent against murder, but I’m making an exception for you. What’s happening in Skaia is evil. If you’re trying to stop it, then I can try and help you get to Rerune safely.” She looked at his horns. “We have to do something about these. They’re a direct connection to you’re Dad.”

“I know.”

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” she asked with a nervous expression on her face.

Seeing her, normally so stoic, nervous, made Cronus gulp. “I think so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm a New Yorker in Arizona for the first time (deserts are wild??) and I'm a bit overwhelmed. If I don't update in a week or so, don't worry. I'm alive. And I'll be back. Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed. Until next time~


	14. Chapter 13: Caesar and Brutus

Cronus howled in pain. “Shit!”

“Be quiet,” Cameron hissed. “We’ll wake the whole town up with you being such a pussy!”

Cronus bared his teeth. “Why don’t you show some compa-OH FUCK!” He clenched his hands around the chair and bit his lip, drawing blood.

Cameron dropped the hand saw to her side and glared at him. “Man the hell up and let me do this.”

Shaking, Cronus brought his hand up to his horns. His right horn had a cut going almost completely through. It was a few centimeters away from the base. Even grazing the sore horn sent a shooting pain through him. “Fuck,” he choked out. 

“I thought these were like fingernails for you?”

“I don’t wanna explain troll biology to you,” Cronus replied. He took a deep breath. “Okay. Keep going.”

It was still night. Once they realized they had the same idea, Cameron wasted no time in finding her dad’s tools, and Cronus wasted no time in realizing that he was insane. 

The cutting of horns was still common in undeveloped countries around the world. It was a good punishment, as it was painful and could be done multiple times. Through the excruciating pain, Cronus could be sure his horns would grow back. Though they would be embarrassingly small for an adult troll. 

“Shit! Shit shit shit shit! Be gentle!” Cronus shouted. A clean cut was the best way to do it. The more rough the cut, the more the saw would scrape against his horns. Cameron was doing a very rough cut.

“I’m doing my best,” she huffed. “It’s not like I do this frequently.”

A creak came from behind them. Cronus froze, cursing himself for not being able to stop his shaking. Cameron hid the saw behind her back. Lisa walked through the back door, looking at her younger sister suspiciously. “What are you doing?”

“Weed.” 

Lisa looked from Cameron to Cronus, and noticed Cronus’s horn. “Cronus! Oh my god, what happened?”

He felt his horn before answering. The cut was deep enough through where he could probably snap it off, but he couldn’t muster up the strength to do it. “Weed happened.” His voice was pained and broken.

“Cameron!”

“Okay, Lis, calm down,” Cameron said. “I did this. Cronus needs to lose his horns.” Cronus nodded when Lisa looked at him. “I can’t explain why. Believe me,” Cameron said, stopping Lisa before she could start, “you don’t want to know.”

It became a staring contest between the sisters; Lisa was silently scolding Cameron, and Cameron was giving her a pleading look. Lisa caved. “Fine. Fine. I don’t want to know.” Then, as she was going back inside, she sighed and said, “I’ll bring some painkillers for you.”

“God fucking bless you,” Cronus replied.

With a handful of Ibuprofen, the pain was almost bearable.

 

Cronus slept well into the afternoon the next day, working through his exhaustion from the night before. When he came to, Kankri was sitting on the couch across from him, looking royally pissed. “Kan?” Cronus yawned. 

“Care to explain?” Kankri pointed at Cronus’s head.

He swept his hand over his horns. The pain had lessened dramatically, but they still were sore. “I fixed my identity problem,” Cronus answered. “Now I can just cut my hair, put lighter makeup on my fins, and be on my way.”

“You should have told me before you did this!” Kankri burst. “I can’t begin to imagine how much this hurt!”

“A fuck ton.”

“Language! Gog, Cronus, we’re a team! I’d appreciate it if you told me your stupid, impulsive ideas!”

“Then they wouldn’t be impulsive.” Kankri gave him a death glare, and Cronus put up his hands. “Okay! I’m sorry! But you could’ve said anything and I still would’ve went through with it! This is the only way we’re getting around my horns, Kan.”

“Fine,” Kankri said, still looking very pissed.

“You’re going to forgive for this later!” Cronus cried after Kankri as he left the room. Then, once he was left alone, he found the laptop and went to find the latest email leaks from the Condesce. 

 

Kankri had not forgiven Cronus as quickly as he had suspected. He wasn’t alone though. Cameron was almost ecstatic to see her handiwork in the light of day. “How’s the head?”

“Better,” Cronus replied. 

“I never realized they were hollow.” Cameron said, observing his horns. 

“Yeah. I’m not sure why,” Cronus said. He frowned, and looked at the computer screen. “Where’s Kankri?”

“Hell if I know.”

Cronus found him sitting outside. “Hey,” he said. Kankri didn’t reply. “The email leaks stopped.”

“What?” What do you mean they stopped?”

“There hasn’t been an update yet.”

“That’s impossible,” Kankri said. “Sollux said the Psionic had a queue set up so there’d at least be one post per day.”

“What if someone cancelled it?” 

Kankri frowned. “This isn’t good.”

“I know. I’m getting bad vibes too.”

“Let’s leave tomorrow. You’re ready,” Kankri said in a bitter tone which Cronus ignored.

“If you’ll cut my hair short, we can leave at midnight.”

Rosa and Bud were kind enough to buy them a taxi to the border. Lisa gave Cronus a small bag of ibuprofen. Cameron told him to keep trimming to horns. He scowled. 

Without horns and slicked back hair, Cronus almost didn’t recognize himself. It was still his scar on his forehead, his fins on the sides of his face, and the same violet eyes. “Kan, we gotta do something about my eyes.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Kankri said. “You’re not old enough to have blood-colored eyes.” Cronus frowned, but listened to his friend.

By noon, they would be in the Harluk Kingdom. Cronus would have to hide his identity and treat Kankri as a servant. Then they’d be safe in Rerune.

Cronus was glad to be travelling again. He was finally putting distance between him and Skaia again. Kankri was jittery, and Cronus couldn’t blame him. This was going to be the hardest part.

Their taxi drove through the night. They only stopped once, to get gas. Kankri and Cronus went into the gas station. “Do you think I should look more like, well, a servant?” Kankri asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Cronus replied. “My whole look is ‘rebel without a cause.’ It’ll make sense you don’t look like you have a stick up your ass. Well, any more so than usual.”

Kankri punched him in the arm as the television hanging in the corner got his attention. “Breaking news from the government of Skaia, the current President, Her Imperial Condescension, has culled her media director, the Psionic. For trolls, this tradition is entirely legal today so long as sufficient evidence is provided of a major crime. Let’s go to our man on the ground, Jay Drake.”

“Thanks, Will,” the Jay said, standing in the middle of a conference room crowded with people. Kankri and Cronus exchanged a worried look. “One of the Condesce’s assistants will be telling us her reason for culling the Psionic. A judge is also here to judge the severity of the crime.”

“We need to leave,” Kankri murmured. Cronus tore his attention away. “Let’s go. She probably found out about his leaks.”

As they walked back to the taxi, Cronus whispered, “What about Mituna and Sollux?”

“We’ll find out about them once we get to the HK,” Kankri said. “For now, it’s suspicious if we act so invested. We’re the only trolls for miles, and we could easily be associated with the Psionic.”

“How do you know all this?”

“My dad used to be DA,” Kankri replied.

“‘S a long piss,” the driver grunted when they got to the car. “Anything happen?”

“Nah,” Cronus replied. He glanced out the window. The sooner they got to Rerune, the better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been a while. Sorry guys, I've been busy and haven't had the time to update. But I'm back! Thank you so much for coming back and reading, and I will update soon, hopefully. Until next time~


	15. Chapter 14: In The Devil's Lair

Their driver sped away as soon as they got out of the car. Cronus couldn’t blame him; he was a seadweller, and he didn’t much want to be in the HK. As a human, the place probably made hell seem cozy and comfortable.

They couldn’t legally cross the border. Neither of them had their passports, and if they did, it’d mean an immediate arrest for Cronus and probable abuse for a Vantas. They would have to hop the border, similar to how they got to Rhodes in the first place.

As a troll kingdom next to a human country, the two were often at odds. A fence separated the two. It was not electric, given the HK’s aversion to anything human and Rhodes’ aversion to anything violent, but it did have barbed wire wrapped around the top. Cronus took off his jacket and began to climb with it draped around his shoulders. Kankri began to follow. “Stop,” he said.

“What?”

“Let me take care of the barbed wire first.” Once he reached the top, Cronus put his jacket across the barbed wire and climbed over it. The parts that weren’t covered bit into him, and a few spikes stuck through his jacket, but he was able to make it through with only a few cuts. He dropped to the ground and showed Kankri his hands. “Think you can handle this?”

Kankri stared at the purple blood smearing his hands and said, “Not a problem. Not at all.” As he climbed, Cronus heard him say other variations of how fine he was, and this only occurred more as he made his way over the barbed wired. He swore as he got his foot tangled, and let out some very choice words as he untangled himself, but eventually got to the other side. He dropped the jacket to the floor and jumped down.

“I’m impressed,” Cronus said, clapping him on the back. “I thought you’d chicken out.”

“Why do you have so little faith in me?” Kankri asked, wrapping one of his hands in his sweater.

“Because I’m a good friend.” Cronus put on a pair of sunglasses he had swiped from one of their gas station stops and started walking. “We need to find a place to stop at and clean up.”

“Can we look for a pharmacy and get some gauze?”

“I don’t know,” Cronus replied. “We might have better look finding a witch.”

“You met The Handmaid, right?” Cronus nodded. “Why would you want to meet a troll witch?”

“I thought you were Mr. PC. Not all witches are batshit crazy, that was just the Handmaid. A lot of trolls that still practice magic do it to help others. Not just to set curses or scare grubs.”

Kankri frowned. “It’s still rather barbaric.”

“Look, you’ve spent too much time helping humans. Trolls get shit on too. It’s just not as obvious.” 

After a few moments, Kankri said, “Okay. We look for a witch.”

Cronus smiled. The Harluk Kingdom was controlled by the Harluk family, a highblood family. They adhered almost perfectly to Alternian law, with exceptions like the absence of Imperial Drones and the fact that adult trolls had to stay on the planet. It was mostly a jungle, but it wasn’t good for seadweller health because of the distance from salt water, so most seadwellers were only tourists or travellers. 

Witches were usually social pariahs, only called for when other trolls were desperate for help. Through thick trees and foliage, it’d be tough to find a witch hut, but it was easy enough to hide from civilization. They were both sweaty and bleeding, and the only food they had was a bag of gas station snacks. Plus, Cronus’s jacket had a few tears in it. 

The air was humid, and sweat was dripping down both their faces when they spotted a small hut in the top of one of the trees. “Think our witch has a tree house?” Cronus asked, pointing to the hut. Kankri groaned, and Cronus gave him a leg up to the closest branch. They began to climb, flicking gigantic bugs out of the way as they did so.

Upon closer inspection, the hut was shabbier than they had thought. It looked big enough for a small family, although that was probably to accommodate multiple clients at a time. Scratch marks surrounded the branches and floorboards. 

“Do you think they’re still here?” Kankri asked. Cronus shrugged and knocked on the door. When nobody answered, he knocked again and pressed his ear to the door. From inside, he heard soft footsteps and faint muttering. 

The door opened, and a short, ancient looking troll looked between them. She looked like an oliveblood, although her horns looked more like a lowblood’s. Her eyes were bright red and she wore long, black robes with nothing on them. She sniffed, then smiled. “Hm. A mutant and a royal,” she said with a scratchy voice.

“Ma’am, we need help,” Cronus said.

She chuckled, then repeated, “Ma’am. Well, magic help comes at a price. Are you willing to pay?”

“We don’t need magic,” Cronus explained. “We just need some water and fabric to treat our wounds.”

The witch sighed, then said, “Very well. Come in.” Once they were inside, she said, “I don’t leave very often, but word does travel amongst trolls. They say they’re searching for a violetblood.” Cronus and Kankri looked at each other, concerned. “Are you Cronus?”

“I am,” Cronus replied, not bothering to hesitate. If they were caught, no amount of lying could save them.

The witch smiled and hummed to herself. Cronus and Kankri shared another quick glance. “Skaia is in a lot of trouble. The caste system made Alternia powerful, but it did much damage.” She pointed to Kankri. “You mutants would know much about it. And the witches were nearly wiped out, too.”

“Well, hopefully we can put an end to it.” Cronus nudged Kankri, and he gave an apologetic look. Kankri always talked too much.

The witch handed them a bowl of water and some towels, both surprisingly clean considering the filthy surroundings. They both took one of the towels and dipped them in the water so they could scrub the dried blood off their hands. As they did so, the witch asked, “So, what’s your plan? If you get caught, you’ll die, and your mutant will be sold to the highest bidder.”

“We’re getting to Rerune,” Cronus replied. “I disguised myself so nobody will be able to recognize me without closer inspection.”

“It won’t fool anyone who can smell blood,” the witch said. 

“At least we know Terezi is telling the truth,” Kankri whispered. Cronus suppressed a laugh. 

“Well, do I look different.” Nobody replied, and Cronus, after realizing what he said, said, “I mean, fuck.”

“Don’t mind him. He’s stupid at the best of times.” Cronus scowled.

“Clearly,” the witch replied. “My advice is this. Stay away from cities and towns. Stick to the jungle. If you risk it, you might get caught. Walking to Rerune should take a week if you head straight west from here.”

“Why are you helping us?” Kankri asked. “Couldn’t you turn him in for a huge reward?”

“Don’t give her any ideas!” Cronus hissed.

“Don’t worry young man,” the witch replied. “My grandmother told me that the Condesce did everything in her power to wipe out the witches to prevent a battle against a powerful witch. If I stood by and let her do it again, I wouldn’t be worthy of the dark arts.”

“Well. Thank you,” Cronus said. “We’ll take your advice.” Cronus looked down at his hands. They were clean, and all the cuts were scabbed over, so covering them would be more of a nuisance than anything. Kankri was wrapping one of the towel around his injured leg.

“Good. Now, get out, you’re scaring off my customers.” Then she laughed, and they didn’t need much more of a reason to leave. 

“You know, it works out that we’re staying in the jungle,” Kankri said as they began walking. 

“What?”

“I mean, nobody will see you, but if we get spotted, your horns won’t give us away.” 

Cronus frowned. His horns had finally stopped hurting. His pride had not. “Whatever. If we keep walking straight, we’ll be going west.”

 

They took turns sleeping. Cronus would take first watch, and Kankri would get the second. They slept at night, as the HK was still nocturnal and more likely to find them if they wandered around at night. They were halfway through their food supplies but only two days into their journey, so they began to ration more strictly.

“I should’ve picked up more food,” Kankri whined.

“Don’t beat yourself up about it,” Cronus replied. “We both thought we’d be stopping once we got here.”

“I can’t believe we didn’t think about blind trolls. I mean, Latula’s sister is blind. We should’ve known.”

“Speaking of our favorite skater girl, how do you think the Captor’s are holding up?”

Kankri became somber. “I wish I knew. One of the Midnight Crew probably took them in.”

“Yeah,” Cronus agreed. “Do you think Redglare’s gonna get caught for passing on information?”

“Who knows. The real question is whether or not we get caught.”

Cronus sighed. “If the Threshecutioners come, I need you to run.”

“I won’t-”

“Kan, I need you to run,” Cronus said. “You did nothing wrong, and they won’t care about you if you escape quickly enough. Get back to Skaia and get back to Eridan, and tell him to let all hell loose.”

“The whole reason I came with you was to make sure you didn’t get killed!” Kankri exclaimed. “I’m not going to go back on that just because you want to be noble, or-”

“It’s not like that!” Cronus snapped. Kankri was staring at him with wide, angry eyes. Cronus exhaled, and continued. “It’s selfish. I’m being selfish. I want you to survive solely so you can help get revenge on my behalf. It’s more effective than dying because your best friends a dumbass.”

Kankri stared at him, and Cronus felt his fins turn violet. “You’re not a dumbass,” Kankri finally said. “You’re impulsive. There is a difference.” He hugged Cronus. “I’ll go back if that happens. But it won’t. So don’t even think about it.”

“Fine by me,” Cronus replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks for stopping by to read! I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate any and all criticism, and I will be back soon. Until next time~
> 
> EDIT: I looked through this again and realized I posted a chapter from a different fanfiction by mistake. My sincerest apologies. The correct chapter is now up.


	16. Chapter 15: If Only I Was An Escape Artist

They were travelling without a map. That made avoiding cities difficult. All Cronus could do was keep them moving in the general direction of Rerune with the promise they’d get there eventually. All they could do was walk the outskirts and hope they’d remain hidden.

Mostly, they had come across lowblood towns, where houses were little more than sheds. They didn’t have to worry about strict laws there, as trolls were living with little regard to laws.

“Fuck,” Cronus said.

“Oh no,” Kankri said, seeing the city they had stumbled upon. They were still a ways away from it, able to see the roads leading up to it, but it’d be hard to redirect around it. “What’s the plan?” Kankri asked.

Cronus’s stomach growled. Their supplies were stretched thin. “We can try going through the city.”

“You’re only saying that because you’re hungry!”

“Yes,” Cronus admitted. “But we should get actual supplies, and we’ll get to Rerune faster if we keep going straight.”

Kankri huffed. “Okay, that’s a good point.” Although, his compliance may have been due to the fact his stomach growled faintly. 

“Alright.” Cronus put on his sunglasses and felt his fins. “Be quiet. Don’t say anything unless I tell you too. Don’t look anyone in the eye. And, for the love of all that is holy in this world, do not stray too far from me.”

“Got it.”

“This country is one of the capitals of lowblood sex trafficking,” Cronus said.

“I’m well aware of that,” Kankri replied. “I’m not an idiot.”

“Sorry,” Cronus muttered. “Wanna head out now?”

“No better time than now.” The roads were the first parts of land not covered by the canopy of leaves above them. Moving from the shade to the open ground was a dramatic shift. It was always hot and humid, but now sweat dripped from both their faces. Kankri, who had wrapped his sweater around his waist long ago, now dragged it behind him, which his shirt over his head. Cronus was only doing slightly better. Heat was better for him as a cold-blooded troll, but it was still getting to him.

Cars passed them, from shitty lemons to truly spectacular shows of wealth. A few stopped to whistle at Kankri until Cronus glared at them. With sawed-off horns, he must have looked like a convict. “Maybe you should put your clothes back on.”

“If I do that, I will get a heat stroke.”

“Fair enough.”

Once it was noon, and the sun was at its peak, they reached the city. Kanki put his clothes back on and adopted a meek demeanor. The sidewalks weren’t bustling, as most people seemed determine to beat the heat by staying in air conditioning. Lowbloods avoided them. Highbloods avoided them. The few seadwellers they passed scoffed at Cronus’s appearance. What embarrassment to the caste system would let this happen to him?

The guards they saw patrolling the streets prompted Kankri to ask, “How are we going to steal any food with so many guards walking around?”

“You’re thinking like a mutant,” Cronus said. Kankri scowled, and Cronus said, “Sorry, but it’s true. The guards are more concerned with the homeless trolls and the lowbloods. How could a seadweller be evil?”

“Yes, however could that be the case?”

“Cool it with the sass before I have to slap you. I don’t want to do that just to keep appearances.”

They passed a few stands selling food from nearby farms. Seeing the destitute owners of the stands pushed Cronus to look for a better place to steal from. Finally, they found a miracle. A miracle in the form of a Whole Foods.

“I thought Whole Foods was a human thing,” Cronus said.

“Oh, it absolutely is,” Kankri replied. “They exist in the worst cultures around the world.” Cronus laughed.

The shoppers at the store were exclusively highbloods and their servants. Seeing the prices, Cronus understood why. “Kan, look. That pint of milk costs twelve dollars.”

“Is it special milk?”

Cronus read the label. “Nope. Normal cow milk. That’s shocking. I thought everything here would be vegan.”

“No, they just guilt trip you into buying the much more expensive vegan option.” Kankri motioned to an employee that was glaring at them. Cronus set it down and started to look for what they actually needed.

Considering they’d be travelling, they only slipped non perishables into Cronus’s pockets. He smiled at the workers as they left ‘empty-handed.’ 

“Shoplifting. The best way to stick it to the man,” Cronus mused. 

“I can’t explain how wrong that logic is, but it’s fine because of the position we’re in.” Noticing Cronus mouth ‘blah blah blah’ as he said this made Kankri say, “You’re such a jerk.”

“You were going back to social justice Kankri, and I wasn’t going to let that happen.”

“It’s not monitoring slurs, it’s actual economics.” Cronus rolled his eyes. 

It was beginning to get dark. They agreed to just wait the night out in an alley and go back into the jungle the next day. Kankri took first watch, and Cronus used a random box as a pillow so he could sleep.

 

“Cronus! Wake up!” Kankri yelled. Cronus jerked awake to Kankri being held back by a guard. “Behind you!”

Cronus turned to the side, where two more guards were waiting. He jumped up and threw a punch. The guard dodged, and the other tackled him. As he struggled underneath the guard, the one who dodged his punch whacked him with a baton, and it all immediately went black.

 

He woke up the same way he was knocked out. Someone had whacked him on the head. He groaned with pain and opened his eyes. A highblood in a guard’s uniform was staring at him. “What’s your name?” he asked.

“Wha?”

He got hit again, this time in the stomach. He tried moving his hands to stop it, but they were tied behind his back. He was pressed against a cold, metal wall. “We found over a hundred dollars worth of stolen goods in your jacket. We found no form of identification. Who are you?”

Cronus was breathing heavily. Giving his name would be suicide. “Pelayo Zaheer,” Cronus replied. The guard stared at him. Cronus looked away. His head was pounding. Zaheer had come from a cartoon he loved as a child. Pelayo was, and this hurt to say, his father’s name before he became Orphaner Dualscar. 

“What’s your blood color?”

“Huh?”

Another punch to the gut. “What’s your blood color?” the guard repeated.

“Plum purple,” he moaned. 

The guard glared at him. Next thing he knew, a knife was pressed against his cheek. With one swipe, the guard got a glimpse of violet blood. “Cronus,” he muttered. Then he shouted, “Cronus Ampora!”

Then the guard kneed him in the face, knocking him out again.

 

Cronus woke up on his own this time. “Motherfucker,” he groaned. His head felt like a thousand bombs were exploding inside of him. It hurt to think.

He looked around. He was still handcuffed in the same cell, only he was alone this time. The guard from before had probably alerted the royal family that he was there. The Threshecutioners were on their way.

And, he realized, he had dragged Kankri into this. There was no way he could escape now. 

He had to get out and help him. He had to make sure Kankri didn’t get killed because he was too afraid to run away alone. 

He got up, wincing as he moved. He went to the door. Locked. Fucking duh, Cronus. He looked around. Nothing. Literally, nothing. Not even a bed. 

He tried to break his cuffs with brute strength, but it didn’t work. Frowning, he kicked off his shoes. He didn’t have anything. His pockets had been searched.

He was fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thanks so much for the kudos! You guys are awesome!! I hope you enjoyed, and I will update soon enough. Until next time~


	17. Chapter 16: Deus Ex Machina?

Cronus spent however long he was alone trying to finagle a way to escape. He was probably concussed at this point, which made it incredibly hard to think, and couldn’t find anything that would help him. 

Then the door opened, and he said a prayer to whatever the fuck. Two Threshecutioners came in. His breath caught in his throat. Then the guard from before came in, glaring at him. Then a fourth troll followed.

“Redglare?” Cronus asked, confused. What the hell was she doing here? Before him stood Neophyte Redglare in all her glory, dressed in a teal suit (gross) and carrying her dragon cane.

Nobody said anything until she sniffed. “Yup. That’s Orphaner’s boy.”

“Thank you, Neophyte Redglare,” the Threshecutioner on the right said. He turned to the guard. “We will take him into our custody and return him to Her Imperial Condescension. Your loyalty to the Protectors of Alternia will be acknowledged and rewarded.”

The Threshecutioner on the left grabbed Cronus’s arm and dragged him forward. He was still staring at Redglare. Redglare didn’t seem to notice him beyond his scent. They walked (or rather, he was dragged) through the prison until they came to an abrupt stop. Redglare sniffed again, and pointed to another cell. “That’s the Vantas. We’ll need him for questioning.”

The guard went in and dragged Kankri out. He looked far less abused, but his eyes were wide and afraid and on Cronus. “We’ll be oka-OW!” 

The Threshecutioner holding Cronus had slammed his fist into Cronus’s gut, making him double over in pain. “No speaking, prisoners.”

Kankri noticed Redglare and looked back at Cronus, his mouth agape. Cronus shrugged. It made some sense for her to be there. She was the best troll lawyer on the planet. Of course the Condesce would choose her to question a PA mole. At the same time, she was well aware of what her daughters, and Cronus and Kankri, were involved in. 

She was a double agent. But what side was she playing for?

They were brought outside, where an armored vehicle was waiting for them. Cronus looked to the sky. The area was too heavily forested to land a plane safely. Of course they had driven out, and of course they’d be driven back. Honestly, if the truck was air conditioned, it’d almost be a blessing.

Redglare and the Threshecutioner holding Kankri got into the front of the truck. The remaining Threshecutioner threw them into the back and followed them inside. The trailer was hot and stuffy, and Cronus was sandwiched in between the Threshecutioner and Kankri. 

“You’re scum,” the Threshecutioner said.

“Don’t talk to him like that!” Cronus said.

“Not the mutant. You. You squandered the honor of your caste.”

Cronus rolled his eyes. “Piss off, Dad.”

The Threshecutioner grabbed Cronus by the shirt and threw him to the opposite wall. Cronus hit it with a resounding thud. Kankri was gripping the bench. Cronus’s every bone was aching. “Our Empress would applaud your death.”

“Yeah, well your mom would praise my bulge.” Kankri sighed, and the Threshecutioner kicked Cronus’s face into the wall. His mouth now tasted distinctly like blood, and his nose felt crooked. “What? I could take it,” he said, blood dripping from his lips.

“Cronus, stop being an idiot,” Kankri hissed. 

“You should listen to the mutant.” Suddenly, the truck stopped. “What happened?” The Threshecutioner looked to Kankri and Cronus, who were just as confused. The door opened to reveal Redglare, looking terrified.

“We need to run!” she exclaimed, climbing into the trailer. “Someone shot Darere!”

The Threshecutioner smirked and pulled a large gun from the holster on his waist. “Watch the prisoners,” he said. “I’ll be back.”

They watched him leave. Then a bullet went through the back of his skull. They stared at Redglare, shocked, as she lowered her gun. “What? I thought you guys wanted to escape.”

“I-I don’t understand,” Kankri said, following Redglare out of the trailer. “What are you doing here?”

“I asked to be put on this case. It would have been the trial of the century.”

“What do you mean, trial of the century?”

“The son of the Condesce’s most trusted advisor is a highblood murderer. That’s great press!” Redglare said. “But my daughters were flipping shit to make sure I got here to make sure you guys were alive. I’m impressed you still are.” She sniffed. “Well, mostly.”

Cronus wiped some blood from his face. “What’s the plan. “We’re a days walk from Rerune. Karkat told me that he has a contact there.”

“No shit,” Cronus said. “Who’s the contact?”

“He doesn’t know. It was set up by one of the humans.”

“Which one?”

Redglare crinkled her nose. “It’s hard enough to keep track of all you trolls, you think I’m gonna try and keep track of the humans?”

“Fair point,” Kankri replied.

“Whatever,” Cronus replied. “We get to Rerune, and we meet with the contact. Let’s go.”

 

By night, they had reached the border. Carapace nations were, at best, the weakest nations of the world. The border was completely unprotected. The lush jungle was beginning to fade away, meaning they could actually see the sky.

Kankri yawned. “How much longer?”

“Until we find the contact. They’ll recognize us,” Redglare replied. 

Cronus couldn’t stop himself from smiling as he watched Kankri contain his exasperation. They kept walking until they came across a small settlement. Carapaces, all shorter than them, walked between shabby buildings. A few stuck to the sides of the street once they saw three adult trolls. Others glared at them behind rags and tattered clothes.

“Are we just going to search the entire country?” Cronus asked. 

“If we have to,” Redglare replied. He and Kankri sighed.

After walking for a while, Cronus looked behind them out of habit and noticed a black carapace walking a few yards back. He shrugged it off, figuring that they must’ve been heading in the same direction. 

Then he looked back, and the carapace was still behind them. And still behind them. “Okay, what’s he doing?” Cronus whispered. They turned around to face the carapace. He was dressed in a filthy bed sheet.

“We won’t hurt you,” Kankri said, noticing the panicked look on the carapace’s face.

Nervously, he came forward and said in a meek voice, “Ms. Redglare?”

She nodded. “Are you looking for us?”

He nodded and slipped off his hood. “I’m Wayward Vagabond.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I finished the story..... 22 chapters in total. I'll be updating the rest as the weeks go on. Thanks so much for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed, and I hope you'll stick around for the next few chapters. Until next time~


	18. Chapter 17: Continuity Connections

“Please follow me,” WV said, awkwardly putting his hood back up and turning around. 

Cronus glanced at Kankri. “Should we?” he asked.

Redglare pushed both of them forward. “We’re going,” she said. It wasn’t an answer, so much as a command.

WV led them through the streets to one of the larger shacks. The tallest carapaces tended to be shorter than average trolls, so Cronus and Redglare had to duck to get through the door. A few carapaces gave were inside. None seemed as nervous as WV, but none were aggressive. 

“I got a letter a few months ago,” WV explained. “It was from Jade Harley. I have never met her, but she told me about her friends and the Condesce and glimpses of the future.”

“Jade can see the future?” Kankri interrupted. Cronus couldn’t blame him. He was just as shocked.

WV shrugged. “She was right about what she told me. So I did what she asked me to; I came back to Rerune and gathered some carapaces. She asked me to wait here for three travellers and help them however I could.” He spread out his arms. “This is all the help I can offer.”

Cronus glanced at the scarce gathering of carapaces. “It’s touching,” he said, wincing. They were so screwed. 

One of the black carapaces, a rather short fellow, stuck out a finger at Cronus. “Don’t you patronize us! We’re willing to sacrifice our lives for your cause! We don’t have to put up with stuck-up teenage rebels like you!” Cronus scowled. 

“Calm down, AR,” one of the tall, white carapaces said. 

AR huffed. “We all made sacrifices to get here. You should be grateful you even have help.”

“Alright, we get it, Cronus is a douche,” Redglare said. “What’s your plan? How are we involved?”

AR pulled a sheet of paper from his police tape wrappings. It had Jade’s loopy handwriting in bright green on it. “This is the letter WV got.” He handed it to Redglare, but Kankri took it instead. 

After he read through it, his brow furrowed the entire time, he said, “So we have to go back.”

“We just narrowly escaped being murdered,” Cronus said, incredulously. “I’d rather not go back for a while.”

“We won’t be able to leave immediately,” WV said. “We’re still trying to recruit people, and AR wants to prepare civilians for attack once we leave.”

“Give them the RPG and they’ll be fine!” one of the carapaces hollered. A few chuckled, but AR glared at them before launching into a rant on how such weapons had to be monitored by the law so unprepared citizens wouldn’t blow everything to shit.

“Anyway,” Cronus said, tearing his eyes away from the carapace antics, “What can we do to help?”

“Tell us everything,” AR said. “Everything about Skaia since you left, everything we need to fix, and everything that you think is relevant.”

As it turned out, they had a massive amount of information. Kankri and Cronus had both been gone too long to describe the conditions in Skaia, so Redglare explained the curfews on all non-trolls and the new law preventing humans from owning guns. The Harley-English residence must have trusted one of the trolls to hold their guns for them, otherwise they would have fought tooth and nail against the law.

Humans were barred from serving in a jury, meaning humans were being given disproportionate sentences. It was a bad time to be a human drug dealer. Or a human thief. Or a human, period. There were talks within the government to move humans to designated slums, but it was a bit too overt and a bit too early to go through with it. Humans and other species alike were protesting it despite being met with tear gas and police violence.

Cronus did his best to describe the inner workings of the Protectors of Alternia. He could count of the higher members and some of their plans, although his time away might have affected the accuracy of his information significantly. Kankri could only tell him how they could meet and work with the Midnight Crew.

The tall white carapace from before wrote down notes and handed them to AR once they finished speaking. “You’d never guess it was this bad from the outside,” PM said. “The Skaian government has a lockdown on what news is leaving the country.”

“Especially now that the Psionic was caught,” Redglare said. Cronus glanced at her. Her expression was unreadable. He never really considered the relationships between their parents. Was she as broken up by this as the Disciple and the Dolorosa? Then he remembered her brutal legal reputation, and decided not to think on it much longer. 

“What do we do now?” Kankri asked, dragging Cronus’s attention back to the conversation. 

“We’re going to gather as many carapaces as we can,” AR replied. “Wait here while we do. Hopefully it’ll take a while before we can get moving.”

“Why would we want it to take a while?” Kankri asked. 

“More time spent means more volunteers,” Cronus replied. 

 

It ended up taking two days. PM managed to gather more carapaces, and they began to look like a slightly less pathetic militia. AR had a truly impressive (terrifying) amount of weapons to dole out amongst the volunteers. WV had written back to Jade and had managed to get a decent path to trek to Skaia set up.

There was now a search for Redglare. Since there was nobody to witness her helping Cronus and Kankri, it was assumed they had overpowered her and kidnapped her. “How,” one of the reporters said on the Skaian news, “Could someone who is legendary for her work in law break it? The only possibility is she was overpowered in her old age by the highblood murderer. One can only hope her status as midblood keeps her alive.”

Redglare scoffed. “If the law doesn’t line up with my morals, I don’t listen.” Then, after a beat, “And I’m not that old.” Nobody was brave enough to argue.

However, the more Cronus thought it over, the more he was certain Redglare wasn’t that safe. Sure, the media and general populace would believe she was kidnapped, but the parents of their friend group went back for years. The Condesce was probably well aware of her rebellious streak, and could guess her real reason for disappearing. 

Since he was planning and keeping updated on Skaian politics, Cronus adored Rerune. He could borrow any of AR’s weapons and train, finally being able to move for fun instead of necessity. He didn’t have to fight for his life yet.

His injuries from the guards in HK were still painful, but not as raw. It didn’t hurt as much to exist, and he was able to get a meager amount of painkillers from the carapaces. 

Kankri passed his time in a nervous state, drifting from reading books he found to spending time in silence doing nothing. Cronus didn’t know what to say to comfort him.

He didn’t like that he didn’t know what to say to Kankri. With girls and boys and everything in between and beyond, he didn’t know what to say. He was used to that. But his best friend? This was uncomfortable. 

He tried to keep his mind off of it. The best he could do was sit with Kankri in his room, not saying anything. Did it work? He couldn’t tell, but Kankri never asked him to leave. 

When days turned into weeks, WV told them to get ready to leave. Without belongings to pack, they were prepared to leave whenever. Vans were packed, volunteers prepared bags of supplies, and the carapaces began to get good with their weapons. Fleetingly, Cronus thought about trying to teach Kankri how to fight, but he pushed the thought from his mind. He had a different skill set.

It seemed to be both too soon and too long before WV made them move out. They left the small city and travelled to the border of HK. From under blankets in the front of a van, Cronus heard PM telling one of the border guards about her business with the White Queen in Skaia. Shrugging it off, they were allowed through. They weren’t even asked when they entered Rhodes. Once the humans saw they were carapaces, they were let through. The Confederation of New Alternians were just as careless as the HK.

Then, after a bit more than a week of uninterrupted travel, they were back at the border of Skaia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed, thank you for leaving kudos, and I will post again soon. Until next time~


	19. Chapter 18: A Myth's Cycle

Skaia didn’t bring any nostalgic feelings to either Kankri and Cronus. They looked across the border to their home country, then at each other. “So…” Cronus said. 

“Home,” Kankri said. “We’re back.”

“You could go back to your life.”

“No, I couldn’t,” Kankri replied. “There’s no way the Threshecutioners are going to let me get away. I’m helping you escape. I’m a traitor.”

“And a mutant,” Cronus added.

“And a mutant,” Kankri nodded.

“Get down,” one of the carapaces hissed. They ducked down under the blankets in the trunk. Surrounding them was food and beneath them, stored in secret compartments, were weapon parts.

The car moved forward. They stopped. “We’re probably at the border control,” Kankri whispered. They should be on the move within a few minutes.

Then a few minutes turned to ten. Then twenty. “Do you think they found Redglare?” Cronus asked.

“No, I think she’s in the car behind us.”

After half an hour, someone opened the trunk. Cronus held his breath. An unfamiliar voice asked, “She asked you to bring food?”

The carapace who hissed at them said, “We’re trying to save money on food. Less stops, you know?”

The voice didn’t reply. Cronus heard a sniffing. Then a growling. Something began shifting through the bags above him and Kankri. He glanced at Kankri, who looked back at him nervously. A small ray of light filtered through some of the bags onto his face. “Anything else in there?”

The bags continued to rustle, and Cronus sucked in a breath of air as silently as possible, trying to shrink himself away from the opening. A carapace hand became visible above Cronus’s arm. As it rummaged through a bag, Cronus noticed some of the bags slipping. He moved his arm to catch it, but other stuff resting on him began to shift, and he became still again. “We brought some jerky with us. Could that be it?” 

He must’ve handed it to the dog or barkbeast or whatever it was, because he heard chewing and the voice say, “Probably. You guys can head through.” The trunk slammed, and a bag fell off of Cronus’s leg, exposing him. He didn’t move, too afraid of the guard coming back and seeing him. 

Then the van started. He and Kankri stared at each other again. And they burst out laughing.

 

By the end of the night, they had stopped at a hotel. The carapaces unloaded and went to their rooms. Cronus, Kankri, and Redglare would sleep outside in the cars to avoid detection. Kankri and Cronus tended to sleep in the car together. 

“How far away from the city do you think we are?” Cronus asked. 

Kankri leaned over from the front seat to look back at Cronus. “Maybe another day of driving.”

“Damn. I need to stretch my legs.”

“So do I,” Kankri said. “I’d step out if I could, but I don’t want to risk it.”

“At least we’ll be there soon,” Cronus said. “What’s the plan for when we get there?”

“WV got in touch with the Midnight Crew. We’re going back to my house and staying in the saferoom. Karkat will probably want to get us up to speed on everything.”

“Alright. Go in a room and talk to everyone.”

“Not everyone.” Cronus stared questioningly at Kankri and he said, “Eridan and Feferi probably won’t be able to make it. Security within the PA is probably insane right now.”

“Yeah.”

“But we’ll figure something out. It’s probably safer for us to get Eridan out of there because of his relation to you. Feferi, too. We already have moles within PA, and I have a feeling we won’t be doing just recon for much longer.”

“Mhm.”

“Cronus?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay?” Cronus didn’t answer, and Kankri continued. “It’s okay if you aren’t. I’ve been missing my brother too, but I’m lucky enough to know I’ll see him. I can’t imagine how you’ll feel.”

“Honestly?” Kankri stared at him, silently urging him to continue. “I haven’t thought about Eridan and Feferi since we left Skaia.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I don’t know. I’ve just been trying to keep us safe and get to Rerune. I didn’t care whether or not Eridan and Feferi were safe. I knew they were. At the very least, they weren’t being hunted down.” Cronus turned over so he wouldn’t face Kankri. “That makes me a bad person, doesn’t it.”

It wasn’t a question.

“It doesn’t,” Kankri said softly. 

Cronus didn’t reply, and Kankri didn’t push further. Eventually, Kankri’s soft breathing filled the car, and Cronus was left to deal with his thoughts alone.

 

The next day of driving, Cronus and Kankri sat silently in the trunk. There was nothing to do, and Cronus felt too awkward to start a conversation.

Day changed to night, and the sudden starts and stops told them they were in the city. When the car stopped, Cronus nearly kicked the trunk open just so he could move. But he controlled himself, and waited until a carapace opened the trunk. It was PM. 

“Let’s go,” she said. They climbed out of the trunk and took in the city air. It almost brought tears to Cronus’s eyes, only because of the smell of pollution and body odor.

Cronus glanced at Kankri, who had tears welling in his eyes. When he noticed Cronus looking at him, he wiped them away. PM pushed them to the door and went in with them. Spades Slick sitting on the couch in the front room with a bottle of whiskey in his hand. He tipped his hat at them.

“Kankri,” he said in a flat voice. 

“Spades,” Kankri said, a tremble in his voice. 

“I’m Peregrine Mendicant,” PM said. “You wrote with my accomplice, Wayward Vagabond.”

“Yeah,” Spades said. “I gave you guys Droogs’ address. Go to his house and he’ll help you guys out. Let me get these two settled.” PM thanked him and left, and Cronus stepped back against the wall. He didn’t want to get in the way of this.

“I can take Cronus down to the saferoom,” Kankri said. 

“Not yet,” Spades said. “I need to talk to you.”

“No, we should really get down to our room.”

“What you did was stupid. It was fucking retarded. I didn’t raise you, but I thought I taught you better than to choose the most suicidal fucking course of action.” Kankri swallowed and nodded. “But I’m kind of proud. You showed some serious guts.”

Kankri was silent for a few moments. Cronus reached out and tugged on his sweater. “You okay?” he whispered. 

In a cracked voice, Kankri said, “I’ll take Cronus to our room, now.” Cronus followed him downstairs to a bookshelf. He moved a few books aside and pulled on a hidden bar, opening the door. Cronus walked into the room. There was one queen bed and another, smaller room with a toilet and sink. 

“I can bring down something for me to sleep on if you mind, but just put up with it for one night,” Kankri replied. “I need to just… Stay down here for a bit.”

“We sharing?” Cronus asked.

“I’m fine with it.” Cronus watched Kankri get silently under the covers and asked, “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“There’s nothing to talk about. I’m just a little emotional right now.”

Cronus got in bed beside Kankri. “I understand.” Kankri didn’t reply. “If you need to vent, I don’t mind.” But Kankri never said anything, and Cronus waited until he fell asleep before he pretended he could get some rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed, and I will update again soon! Until next time~


	20. Chapter 19: Not What You Want, But What You Need

When Cronus woke up, Kankri was awake and had brought down a few chairs. “Morning.”

“It’s one in the afternoon,” Kankri replied.

“It’s been awhile since I slept in a bed,” Cronus said, turning on his side. “What’s the plan for today?”

“Nothing,” he answered. “We wait here. Someone will bring food. Karkat might show up. Maybe a few others, if we get lucky.”

“Why can’t we do something interesting?”

“You did do something interesting. You killed two trolls. Remember?”

“Well,” Cronus said, getting out from the bed, “I don’t know how to reply to that.”

Kankri looked at Cronus for an uncomfortably long time. “You look like shit,” he said once Cronus gave him a prompting look.

“Thanks, sweetheart.”

“I’m not trying to be mean, I’m just trying to be serious. You don’t have horns, you have cuts and bruises everywhere, and I think a few of your teeth were knocked out.”

Cronus felt around his mouth. “And here I was thinking the pain in my mouth was a broken jaw.”

Kankri gave him a pitiful smile. “When someone comes down, I’ll ask for a first aid kid. We’ll see what we can do about you.”

“Hey, why didn’t you get the shit beaten out of you when we were arrested?”

“I tried to be as respectable as possible, I answered all questions, and I didn’t provoke them. I’m guessing you failed to do all three?”

Cronus nodded. “What did you tell them?”

“They didn’t ask much. They didn’t really care about me. If Redglare didn’t show up when she did, they probably would’ve put me into a state slave auction.” Kankri stretched his arms and took his sweater off. Cronus looked closer at his arms and saw criss-crossed cuts. Kankri noticed him staring and said, “They were still ruthless.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I knew what I was getting into. This is tamer than what I expected.” Cronus was about to say something else when Kankri said, “All they asked about was what you did and why. I feigned total ignorance, and said I was a friend that got accidentally caught up in your escape.”

“Did you give them your name?”

“Of course I did, didn’t you know I’m suicidal?” Cronus laughed, and Kankri continued, “No, I gave them a fake one.”

“Good.” For the rest of the day, Kankri read, while Cronus took short naps. Ms. Paint came down with food, which was delicious and fresh and a luxury Cronus had missed dearly. Then she came down with a first aid kid and, after hugging Kankri for a full minute, promised to see them at least once a day. 

Kankri examined Cronus’s horns as Cronus gorged on sandwiches. “I don’t even know what to do about them,” Kankri said. “They’re so jagged and damaged. We’ll just have to wait until they grow back.”

“Try filing them down. If they’re even, they’ll heal faster.”

That led to Cronus gritting his teeth as Kankri used a nail file to wear down his horns. 

The day passed, and nobody had come down to see them again. The next day was the same. 

Cronus was finally feeling well-rested and well-fed. Even though he knew he was still in hiding and should be wary of being found, he couldn’t help but revel in the feeling of being home. 

On the third day, Karkat brought down their food instead of Ms. Paint. Cronus gave him a wave, but Kankri stared at him in shock for a bit too long. “It’s only weird if you make it weird, Kankri,” Karkat said.

“It’s not weird,” Kankri said. Then he hugged Karkat, who awkwardly held the tray of food. 

“How’s everything been?” Cronus asked. 

Karkat shrugged. “We haven’t been able to do much,” he explained, setting the tray down on one of the chairs. “The Condesce found out that the Psionic was behind the leaks. She-”

“We heard,” Cronus said. “How are Mituna and Sollux holding up?”

“Sollux is trying to ignore it. Mituna is doing pretty shitty. The Psionic was really the only one other than Latula that could calm him down. But since Redglare’s gone, Latula’s been working more, and barely sees him.”

“Which means Clubs has to deal with him whenever Sollux can’t,” Kankri said.

“Exactly. Which is a huge fucking disaster. The rest of the Midnight Crew is trying to figure out how to manage Mituna, but it’s not going well.”

“Try to get him to come here,” Cronus suggested.

“Cronus, he hates you,” Kankri said.

“Exactly. Me and Latula are the only quadrants Mituna has. I might be able to take his mind of things.”

“Oh gog, no hate sex on the shared bed,” Kankri said, shutting his eyes.

“You perv, that’s not what I meant,” Cronus said. “I’ll let him fight me or something.”

“Whatever, that’s not all that happened,” Karkat said. “Feferi thinks that the Condesce is catching on to something. She already had Dad killed for exposing her crimes, and now his best friend was killed for doing the same thing. She’s probably got the PA keeping a close eye on the Disciple and the Dolorosa.”

“Shit,” Cronus said. “Is there any way to confirm that?”

“I fucking wish. The best we have is Eridan and his friends, but he thinks this is an important job the Condesce would only trust to her old subjects. Probably Darkleer. Of course, Equius and Horuss don’t know anything. Probably too busy jerking it to horse porn.”

“Karkat!” Kankri exclaimed.

“What? We all know it’s true!”

“That’s vile!”

“Alright, alright,” Cronus said, rubbing his forehead. “What else?”

“That’s pretty much it,” Karkat replied. “I don’t think anyone else is going to be visiting. Spades thinks the house is being watched, and I have to agree. We won’t be having big meetings here anymore, and our group chat is being monitored by Sollux and Roxy all day everyday.”

“At least the Condesce lost her best hacker,” Kankri said. 

“Yeah,” Karkat said, although he didn’t seem amused. The kid always looked exhausted from (probably undiagnosed) insomnia, but the bags under his eyes were more noticeable, and his permanently messy hair was, somehow, messier.

“You should head back upstairs,” Cronus said. “We don’t want to keep you down here for too long.”

“Right. I’ll come down whenever something big happens.” He got up and, after a beat, said, “See you later, Kankri.”

Cronus glanced at Kankri, who had a large smile on his face. “You okay?”

“I’m great,” Kankri replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this hasn't been too long of a wait. I hope you enjoyed! I will post again soon (hopefully before school starts!). Until next time~


	21. Chapter 20: If 2016 Was a Chapter, This Would Be It

Cronus could see that Kankri was in a far better mood. He didn’t do anything different; he still spent most of the day reading, and was more than happy to spend the day in a comfortable chair with food and air conditioning. But his face was softer and he was less tense.

Cronus was stuck between being happy and envious. His best friend being happy quickly rubbed off on him, and he felt much better in general. But he couldn’t have a tearful reunion with Eridan. He couldn’t be sure that Eridan would be safe, or know that they were just a few walls away from each other.

Eridan was more than a few walls away, probably dealing with the brunt of PA work he had normally done. Cronus could no longer pick up the slack and do twice the dirty work so Eridan wouldn’t have to.

At least he had his friends. Cronus had muddled his way through the PA with only Feferi by his side, and he nearly fucked that relationship up. Eridan had a posse who would protect him. At least Cronus could take comfort in that.

Karkat brought them food again. He confirmed that nobody would be able to see them, and couldn’t estimate when they’d be let out. At the moment, Cronus wasn’t feeling restless. He knew that would change. 

He did some searching around. The room wasn’t completely barren. He moved the bed to one of the walls and found a secret door almost seamlessly placed in the tile. Once he opened it, he found an array of of weapons ranging from knives to crowbars to guns.

“Hey Kankri, did you know you had weapons stored here?”

“We have weapons stored everywhere if you’re willing to look long enough,” Kankri replied, not bothering to look up once through all the commotion.

“Huh. I think Spades might secretly be my dad.” That got Kankri to laugh.

There were no other hidden rooms, but Cronus decided that one hidden cupboard in a hidden room was already hidden enough. 

As the days blurred together, Cronus began to put on the weight he had lost. The cuts, scrapes, and bruises he had gotten began to heal, and the aches in his body subsided enough for him to begin working out again.

It was extremely comforting to be stuck in the room together. The problems of the world outside didn’t go away, but they didn’t weigh as heavily on his mind. For now, he could forget that one step outside could mean his death, and just relax.

 

Cronus woke up in the middle of the night. Kankri was sleeping soundly beside him. He was sweaty, and his heart threatened to burst through his chest. He looked around, his eyes adjusting to the utter darkness. 

Was it a nightmare? Probably. It had been a while since he had a nightmare, but it was likely he had already forgotten the dream and was left with nothing but adrenaline and fear.

And then he heard it. A thud from upstairs.

He slipped out of bed and went under it. It was probably someone getting up to get water or go to the bathroom. Still, better safe than sorry.

He heard a few more thuds as he opened the secret door and grabbed a small pistol. He heard someone walk down the stairs. His breath hitched, and his thoughts went straight to Kankri. He was still on the bed, open to view. He would just have to be quick. 

He could faintly hear the books rustle on the shelf. Despite every inch of him filling with pure fear, he could feel himself preparing to fight. Preparing to kill.

The door opened, and Cronus aimed his gun at the ankles of whatever troll just walked in. Just as his finger wrapped around the trigger, he heard the troll hiss, “Cronus? Where are you?”

He poked his head out from under the bed. “Karkat?”

“We need to leave,” Karkat said. It looked as though he had just woken up. Cronus didn’t say anything, but woke Kankri up and quickly explained that they had to go. In less than five minutes, they were out the door.

“What happened?” Cronus asked. They were walking, and Cronus was grateful it was hot enough for the weather to still be warm this late.

“I’m not sure,” Karkat replied. “Roxy was keeping an eye on what was happening within the PA. She saw an email that she thinks was about you. They’re probably onto us.”

“How?”

“Who knows,” Karkat said. “We’re gonna try to get to Vriska’s house. Her mom’s an expert at hiding people and crap like that.”

“Fun.” They walked the sidewalks of the city. Cronus was doing his best to stay calm and not flinch away every time someone looked at him. He was unrecognizable. Only people looking for him would know what he looked like.

Cronus felt paranoid. Someone had to be staring at him, following him. He dared not look behind him. He couldn’t bear finding out that he was caught. Done for. 

He heard faint footsteps. Whatever. There were tons of people going tons of places in the city. What else was new?

Then Kankri yelped, and Cronus whipped around to see someone grabbing his arm. “Karkat, run!” Cronus said before grabbing the troll’s arm and tearing it off of his friend. The troll, a highblood about Cronus’s size, snarled and took out a knife. Cronus, keeping his face expressionless, held up his hands and bent his knees, moving side to side. “Kan, follow Karkat.”

“I’m not leaving you!”

“Staying isn’t an option!” Cronus replied, jumping to the side to dodge the troll. 

Then he heard Kankri shriek in pain, and he turned to see him on the floor, shaking. Another troll had a taser in her hand. Cronus snarled, but returned his attention to the other troll, who had tried stabbing his back. He grabbed him by the waist and threw him against a building. 

As he turned to face the other troll, he felt a painful shock, like a static shock on steroids, multiplied by 500, and everything went black.

 

He woke up in the back of a van, tied up against Kankri. He hated how often he was waking up like that.

“Kan?”

“Cronus! What happened?”

“We got the shit beaten out of us.” Cronus tried to free his hands, but couldn’t. “Damn, they tied us tight.”

“Where are we going?”

“Almost definitely the PA headquarters.” Kankri didn’t reply. “Hey, this isn’t how I imagined use being tied down together.”

“That doesn’t even make sense,” Kankri said quietly. “Why would we both be tied up in a sexual way? We wouldn’t be able to do anything.”

“I’m so glad you’re still able to destroy me with logic.”

They were silent for a few moments until Kankri said, “We’re not making it out of this one, are we?”

Cronus could only say, “We aren’t.”

All they could do was wait. They waited in the back of the van until it stopped, and the doors opened. The same trolls picked them up and carried them into the PA room. It was obvious the Condesce had called a meeting. Nearly everyone was there. He passed some of Eridan’s friends. Eridan would be with their father. Who was probably with the Condesce and Feferi.

He heard Kankri sobbing behind him through the jeers from the trolls surrounding them. “Kan,” he whispered. “Be brave.” But his own cheeks felt wet from tears. 

Everything passed in a blur. He saw his father, looking disappointed, outraged, smug, and cruel all at once. He saw Eridan, and gave him a weak smile. He did the same to Feferi. He did his best not to look at the Condesce, who was droning on about their crimes against trollkind. 

Kankri’s sentence made Cronus feel sick. He would be executed, but not publicly, a relatively kind sentence to a mutant traitor. Only because he ran away with Cronus. 

Cronus would be publicly tortured and executed for four hours. Not the worst. But pretty bad.

They were thrown into a cell. Kankri and Cronus didn’t say much. They didn’t need to. They understood what they were feeling and knew nothing could make either of them feel better. They simply existed together in their final moments. 

Time passed too fast and too slow. Kankri was taken, and Cronus whispered, “I love you.” Kankri only nodded in reply. Hours passed and Cronus realized that he had lost his best friend. His oldest friend. The only one that was willing to put up with him through his most annoying phases. 

He wanted to apologize to Karkat. And to Eridan. Leaving them both brotherless and alone. 

When a troll came to get him, he didn’t fight. It was Darkleer. “You won’t be torturing me, will you?”

“I’ve known you since you were a grub,” Darkleer replied. “I requested I not be given this task. The Condesce allowed it.”

“Oh.”

He was led out. Darkleer took him to the front of city hall where a large crowd was waiting. Only then did Cronus realize nobody saw him as a hero. He was a murderer to the people of the city. They wanted his blood to spill. And so it would.

He was tied to a pole across from a large troll in a mask. The troll had a gun in his hands. There was the execution. Where was the torture?

Only after the Condesce listed his crimes in front of the crowd did he understand. They were the torture. For four long hours, citizens threw rocks and any other hard object they could find. Some were allowed to come up to him and spit on him, or beat him with sticks and bats, or cut up his body, or kick and punch and bite and pull his hair. 

Violet blood dripped onto the ground below him. Pain coursed through every part of his body. His ribs were most likely broken, given how hard it was to breathe. He spat out a few teeth. His horns had been further chipped from the rocks. 

When the Condesce called them off, it was a sweet release. Death would be less painful than this.

The troll in the mask approached him, holding a microphone a newscaster had given him. “Any last words?” he asked.

“Yes.” Shit, even talking hurt. “You all hate me. I killed two trolls.” The crowd roared in disapproval. “I get it. But I’ve done worse. You don’t know the crimes I’ve committed against trolls, humans, reptiles, and carapaces alike.”

The crowd went from outrage to confusion. “I had been working under the Condesce, and committing atrocities under her-”

A gunshot rang through the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I'm a senior in high school and life is rough. I'll update again soon hopefully? I don't even know. But thank you for being patient and for reading, and I hope you enjoyed. Until next time~


	22. Epilogue

Karkat stared at his laptop screen in awe. Cronus’s execution had been livestreamed. He had thrown up from the sheer torture he witnessed, but watching the bullet go through his head was a different experience.

Cronus was gone. Kankri, too.

His brother was gone with barely a mention. Sure, there had been reports, probably because he was the Signless’s son, but nobody really cared about a mutant. The rage was all for the seadweller terrorist.

Still. He went out as best he could, trying to expose the Condesce for what she was.

A mega bitch. 

Karkat closed his laptop. This was it. This had to end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is finally done! I apologize for how long this took, senior year has kept me very, very busy. Anyway, I do hope you enjoyed the fourth installment of this story. The final installment will come out soon, but first I will be posting a Carmilla one-shot (so if any of you are in that fandom, keep track of me!) If you liked my writing and have only read this story, I have other stories from Star Wars, Carry On, and Kim Possible. Thank you for reading, and I hope you will keep checking out my stories. ~Until next time.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm baaaack. I'm sorry it took so long to get the fourth installment out, but school got insane. Thank you to returning readers for sticking with me and, to new readers, check out the first three stories! And, if you're a fan of Carry On, Star Wars, or Kim Possible, check out my stories for those fandoms! I hope you all enjoyed, and hopefully the next chapter will be up soon. Until next time~


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